246 Fish Stories 



get hold of it. And the bird with the broken wing had 

 learned something about fishes, too. But it could not fly 

 away, so it waited to see what the boy was going to do. 



The boy took the bird 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, so the boys called the bird Sefior Alcatraz, which 

 is the Spanish for Mr. Pelican, and Sefior 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 Sefior Alcatraz could do was 

 to squawk and hiss and open his big mouth wide, and show 

 the inside of his red fish sac. 



And when the boys would go fishing on the wharf, Alca- 

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

 pouch just as fast as the boys would 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 he could. 



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

 would splash around inside the net, catching whatever he 

 could, and having lots of fun in his clumsy, pelican fashion. 

 Then he would run along the street with the boys, squawk- 

 ing and flapping his wings and thinking that he was just 

 like them. And if you ever go to Mazatlan, ask for Dr. 

 George Warren 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 Indian boys, you will see Sefior Alcatraz romping and 

 squabbling like the best of them. And you will know which 

 he is by the broken wing and the red sac under his throat. 

 But if you say bagre to him, he will run away under the 

 doorstep, and hide his face till you go away. 



