TRUE TALES OF BIRDS AND BEASTS. 353 



stiff any more, but lay flat against the side of the fish, just as they 

 ought to lie. Then the fish knew that it had found a master, and lav 

 perfectly still. So the bird gave a great gulp, and out the bagre went 

 on the sand, and when the tide came up it swam away, and took 

 care never to go again where a bird could get hold of it. And the 

 bird with the broken wing had learned something about fishes, too. 

 But he could not fly away, so he waited to see what the boy was going 

 to do. 



The boy took the bird into his boat and brought him home. And 

 old Ygnacio put a splint on his wing and covered it with salve, and 

 by and by it healed. But the bone was set crooked, and the bird 

 could not fly very well. So the boys called the bird Sehor Alcatraz, 

 which is the Spanish for Mr. Pelican, and Sehor Alcatraz and all 

 the boys and dogs and goats became good friends, and all ran about 

 on the streets together. And when the boys would shout and 

 the dogs bark, all Sehor Alcatraz could do was to squawk and 

 hiss and open his big mouth and show the inside of his red 

 fish sack. 



And when the boys would go fishing on the wharf, Alcatraz 

 would go, too, and he would stow away the fishes in his pouch as 

 fast as the boys could catch them. But if they caught a bagre fish, 

 he would turn his head the other way and then run away home just 

 as fast as his splay feet would take him. 



And when the men drew the net on the beach Alcatraz would 

 splash around inside the net, catching whatever he could, and hav- 

 ing a great deal of fun in his clumsy pelican fashion. Then he 

 would run along the street with the boys, squawking and flapping his 

 wings and thinking that he was just like the rest of them. And if you 

 ever go to Mazatlan, ask for Dr. Rogers, and he will show you the 

 way to Ygnacio's cabin on the street they call Libertad. And there in 

 the front yard, in a general scramble of dogs, goats, and little In- 

 dian boys, you will see Sehor Alcatraz romping and squabbling like 

 the best of them. And you will know which he is by the broken 

 wing and the red sack under his throat. But if you say " Bagre " to 

 him, he will run under the doorstep and hide his face till you go 

 away. . , 



II— THE LITTLE BLUE FOX. 



Once there was a little blue fox, and his name was Eichkao, and 

 he was a thief. So he built his house down deep among the rocks 

 under the moss on the Mist Island, and his little fox children used to 

 stay down among the rocks. There they would gurgle, gurgle, 

 gurgle, whenever they heard anybody walking over their heads. 

 Eichkao and his fox wife used to run all round over the rocks to 



