CHAPTER XL 



MASTER IMPERTINENCE. 



" 0, matter and impertinency mix'd." SHAKESPEARE. 

 "Hit wuz wunner deze yer uppity little Jack Sparrers, I speck." 



UNCLE REMUS. 



I CONFESS I have some regard for, indeed I may say 

 some admiration of, that chirping morsel of Passerine 

 anatomy whom I have ventured to dub Master Im- 

 pertinence, but whom the prosaic call the sparrow, and 

 urchins not less impertinent than himself mention slight- 

 ingly as a spadger. I keep these views a secret, however, 

 from my agricultural and horticultural friends and acquaint- 

 ances, for whom the bare mention of his name is an oc- 

 casion for vigorous and unguarded language. I wink at 

 his garrulous depredations among the half-dozen crocuses 

 of my few square yards of garden, which a score of well- 

 grown hungry aphid s last year stripped nearly bare 

 not only of flowers but of foliage. These I do regard 

 with such detestation as I can summon against anything 

 which shares with me the breath of life. They thrive 

 in a mean, underhand way, donning a disguise of green 

 which deceives even a lady-bird's grub. You never hear 

 them chirp as they steal your treasures, Now about 

 Master Impertinence" there is nothing furtive or stealthy 



