His Cheeks And The Corners Of His Eyes Were Marked By An
Infinity Of Curved Lines, And, Like Most Avaricious
And deceitful
men, he had a long, crooked chin, and that peculiar prominent and
slightly aquiline nose which, by people
Observant of such
indications, has been called "the rogue's nose." But how shall I
describe his eye - that small hole through which you can see an
honest man's heart? Q - -'s eye was like no other eye I had ever
seen. His face and mouth could assume a good-natured expression, and
smile; but his eye was still the same - it never smiled, but remained
cold, hard, dry, and inscrutable. If it had any expression at all,
it was an unhappy one. Such were the impressions created by his
appearance, when the observer was unobserved by him; for he had
the art of concealing the worst traits of his character in an
extraordinary degree, and when he suspected that the curious
hieroglyphics which Nature had stamped on his visage were too
closely scanned, he knew well how to divert the investigator's
attention to some other object.
He was a humorist, besides, in his way, because he found that jokes
and fun admirably served his turn. They helped to throw people off
their guard, and to conceal his hang-dog look.
He had a hard head, as well as hard heart, and could stand any
quantity of drink. His drinking, however, like everything else about
him, had a motive; and, instead of trying to appear sober, like
other drunkards, he rather wished to appear a little elevated.
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