"It's entitled, 'To My Own Brown Bird.'"
"And who's your brown bird?" demanded Mintie sharply.
"As if you didn't know."
"Meanin' me?"
"Couldn't naturally be nobody else."
"I'm not yours; and as for bein' brown, why, my skin is white as milk."
"I'll bet my life it is."
"As for bein' a bird, that ain't no compliment. Birds is first cousins to snakes. Never knew that, did ye?"
"Never--s'elp me! Is that really so?"
Covered with mortification, he put the paper back into his pocket.