he placed himself in front of the girl and gestured and gesticulated , bowed , nodded , shrugged his shoulders , screwed his face into an infinite variety of expressions , smiled , laughed , scowled and accompanied all these dumb shows with posturings , exclamations , queries , only half expressed in words , and cadences which , by some ingenious manipulation of the tones of the voice , he managed to make as marvellous expressive of his desires .