I obey my orders."
Giovanni was a glass-maker himself. He rose with an air of annoyance and
crossed the laboratory to the jar in which the broken glass was kept,
took out a piece and held it up against the light. Zorzi had made a
movement as if to hinder him, but he realised at once that he could not
lay hands on his master's son. Giovanni laughed contemptuously and threw
the fragment back into the jar.
"Is that all? I can do better than that myself!" he said, and he sat
down again in the big chair.
His eyes fell on the shelves upon which Zorzi's specimens of work were
arranged. He looked at them with interest, at once understanding their
commercial value.
"My father can make good things when he is not wasting time over
discoveries," he remarked, and rising again he went nearer and began to
examine the little objects.
Zorzi said nothing, and after looking at them a long time Giovanni
turned away and stood before the furnace. The copper ladle with which
the specimens were taken from the pots lay on the brick ledge near one
of the 'boccas.' Giovanni took it, looked round to see where the iron
plate for testing was placed, and thrust the ladle into the aperture,
holding it lightly lest the heat should hurt his hand.
"You shall not do that!" cried Zorzi, who was already beside him.
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