TUMBLEWEEDS By Hal G. Evarts THE CROSS PULL THE YELLOW HORDE THE PASSING OF THE OLD WEST THE BALD FACE: AND OTHER ANIMAL STORIES THE SETTLING OF THE SAGE FUR SIGN TUMBLEWEEDS [Illustration: It was quite evident that all her thoughts centered round the younger brother. FRONTISPIECE. _See page_ 54. TUMBLEWEEDS BY HAL G. EVARTS WITH FRONTISPIECE BY W. H. D. KOERNER [Illustration] BOSTON LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY 1923 _Copyright, 1923_, BY HAL G. EVARTS _All rights reserved_ Published January, 1923 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TUMBLEWEEDS TUMBLEWEEDS I In all that vast expanse of country west of Fort Riley clear to the Sierras of California there are not over four hundred thousand acres of arable land. This extract from McClelland’s report, later appearing as preface to some fourteen volumes of Pacific Railroad explorations, evidently acted as a direct challenge to the pioneering spirit of a country that was young. Following immediately upon its publication, as if in a concerted effort of refutation, the great westward trek across a continent set in, the determined advance of a land-hungry horde intent upon seeking out and settling that four hundred thousand acres of arable land; and in the brief space of thirty years there were thirty million acres under fence while the swarming multitude of hopeful settlers continued to surge westward across the face of the earth. Thus do even wise men frequently fail to vision the immensity of the future which stretches forth ahead within the puny span of their own remaining years.