A thrill passed through him.

Was it possible ?...

He did not finish the question.

He could not bring himself to ask whether this picture--some strange spirit it might possess--had reached out to him, quieted him, made him sleep, brought him dreams that were like a healing medicine.

And yet....
He remembered that in one of his leather bags there was a magnifying glass, and he assured himself that he was merely curious--most casually curious--as he hunted it out from among his belongings and scanned the almost illegible writing on the back of the cardboard mount.