"This is an important paper," said Maxwell, noticing Jaspar's
impatience, "and must be executed with great care."
"So it is; but the colonel may die before you get it done," observed
Jaspar, coarsely, and with a crafty smile, which was not unnoticed by
the attorney.
"O, no! I hope not," replied Maxwell, exhibiting the prototype of
Jaspar's smile.
A smile! What is it? What volumes are conveyed in a single smile! It is
the magnetic telegraph by which sympathetic hearts convey their untold
and unmentionable purposes. To the anxious lover it is the bearer of the
first tidings of joy. Long before the heart dare resort to coarse,
material words, the smile carries the messages of affection. To the
villain it reveals the sympathetic purposes of his according fiend. What
the lead and line are to the pilot, the smile, the cunning, dissembling
smile, is to the base mind. By means of it he feels his way into the
heart and soul of his supposed prototype.
Maxwell knew enough of human character to read correctly the meaning of
Jaspar's crafty smile.
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