Freyberger had that tremendous advantage which helps a man along in the world as much, or more, than industry or genius. He was a general favourite. A favourite, not because he was all things to all men, or gave the wall to any man, or truckled, or trimmed, or did anything small, so as to make himself pleasing. He was a favourite because he was straight and honest, always ready to help another man, ever ready to praise what seemed to him praiseworthy or criticize what seemed to him wrong. In fact, there was nothing small about him, except his person, and even that was not particularly small, just a shade under the middle size.
Inspector Dennison, a very big man, both physically and by reputation, liked the little German, and when Freyberger showed him his results he did not criticize them destructively. He went carefully through the matter of the photographs without showing the slightest surprise at the marvellous retinal picture.
He said he failed to see much resemblance between it and the French photograph, but that possibly, allowing for the vast difference in expression and the vagueness of the retinal picture, they might be photographs of the same person.
He did not recognize so fully as Freyberger the possibility of connexion between the hellish face and the subdued and self-contained face, but he recognized it.
“There is something on the back of this photograph I want to examine more attentively,” said Freyberger. “Something has been written with a pencil; the writing has been rubbed out, but the dent remains. Have you a lens, not a too powerful one?”
Dennison produced one from a drawer, and his companion took it and proceeded to examine the marks.
“I can make out an M, there is then a space, over the space there are two dots, a little further along occurs an l followed by—is it a t or an l? Ah! yes, it must be an l, though the loop is very indistinct; then occurs an i without a dot and an r. Thus:
“‘M .. llir.’”
“That doesn’t tell much,” said Dennison.
“No,” replied Freyberger, “but it tells me one thing.”