"
Giovanni laughed sourly.
"I thought you would find some good excuse," he said.
"The master saw me do the work," answered Zorzi unconcernedly. "Ask him
about it when he comes back."
"There are other furnaces in the glass-house," suggested Giovanni. "Why
not bring your blow-pipe with you and show the workmen as well as me
what you can do?"
Zorzi hesitated. It suddenly occurred to him that this might be a
decisive moment in his life, in which the future would depend on the
decision he made. In all the years since he had been with Beroviero he
had never worked at one of the great furnaces among the other men.
"I daresay your sense of responsibility is so great that you do not like
to leave the laboratory, even for half an hour," said Giovanni
scornfully. "But you have to go home at night."
"I sleep here," answered Zorzi.
"Indeed?" Giovanni was surprised. "I see that your objections are
insuperable," he added with a laugh.
Zorzi was in one of those moods in which a man feels that he has nothing
to lose. There might, however, be something to gain by exhibiting his
skill before Giovanni and the men. His reputation as a glass-maker would
be made in half an hour.
"Since you do not believe me, come," he said at last. "You shall see for
yourself.
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