title: How The Pelican Got Its Beak: An Animal Fable
author:  Harris Tobias 
description: Harris Tobias lives and writes in Charlottesville, Virginia. He is the author of The Greer Agency , A Felony of Birds and dozens of short stories. He is the author of several childrens books including At The Robot Zoo, MoonRivet Saves His Skin and An Alphabet Book of Bugs available on Nook & Kindle. You can find links to his fiction at: http://harristobias-fiction.blogspot.com/
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  # Euphemia Among the Pelicans
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Frank R. Stockton
  
  
  This page copyright © 2001 Blackmask Online.
  
  
  http://www.blackmask.com
  
  
  THE sun shone warm and soft, as it shines in winter time in the hemi-tropics.
  The wind blew strong, as it blows
  
  
  whenever and wherever it listeth. Seven pelicans labored slowly through the
  air. A flock of ducks rose from the
  
  
  surface of the river. A school of mullet, disturbed by a shark, or some other
  unscrupulous pursuer, sprang
  
  
  suddenly out of the water just before us, and fell into it again like the
  splashing of a sudden shower.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I lay upon the roof of the cabin of a little yacht. Euphemia stood below, her
  feet upon the mess-chest, and her
  
  
  elbows resting on the edge of the cabin roof. A sudden squall would have
  unshipped her; still, if one would be
  
  
  happy there are risks that must be assumed. At the open entrance of the cabin,
  busily writing on a hanging-shelf
  
  
  that served as a 