One time I heard a mother say to her two boys, “I wish you to do some work for me. There are the chickens to be fed, Henry, and old Doll is waiting for Charles to give her her morning’s meal.” The boys both heard distinctly. This is how Henry’s face looked: round as an apple, eyes bright, a pleasant smile on his lips, and with an “all right, mother,” he started on a run to the barn where the hens were. This is how Charles looked: a long face, eyes dull and sober, a scowl on his forehead, as he moped along to feed old Doll, after being repeatedly told to do so by his mother. Tell me what the first face meant.
“It meant that Henry was the better boy.”
“It meant that he intended to obey his mother.”
“And to do so right off.”
“And in a pleasant way.”
What did the other face mean?
“It meant that Charles did not like to obey.”
“And he intended to take his own time.”
“And he was cross about it.”
Yes, you would know he was ill-natured by the scowl.