In another day or two, Zorzi would be gone for ever from Murano, Giovanni would have the precious manuscript in his possession, and when old Beroviero returned Giovanni would use the book as a weapon against his father, who would be furiously angry to find his favourite assistant gone.

It was all very well planned, he thought, and was sure to succeed.
He would even take possession of the beautiful red glass, and of the still more wonderful white glass which Zorzi had made for himself.

By the help of the book, he should soon be able to produce the same in his own furnaces.

The vision of a golden future opened before him.

He would outdo all the other glass-makers in every market, from Paris to Palermo, from distant England to Egyptian Alexandria, wheresoever the vast trade of Venice carried those huge bales of delicate glass, carefully packed in the dried seaweed of the lagoons.