Zorzi now had the whole vessel, with its spout and handle, on the pontil.

It was finished, but he could still ornament it.

His own instinct was to let it alone, leaving its perfect shape and airy lightness to be its only beauty, and he turned it thoughtfully as he looked at it, hesitating whether he should detach it from the iron, or do more.
"If you have finished your nonsense, let me come back to my work," said Piero behind him.
Zorzi did not turn to answer, for he had decided to add some delicate ornaments, merely to show Giovanni that he was a full master of the art.
The dark-browed man had just collected a heavy lump of glass on the end of his blow-pipe, and was blowing into it before giving it the first swing that would lengthen it out.

He and Piero exchanged glances, unnoticed by Zorzi, who had become almost unconscious of their hostile presence.

He began to take little drops of glass from the furnace on the end of a thin iron, and he drew them out into thick threads and heated them again and laid them on the body of the ampulla, twisting and turning each bit till he had no more, and forming a regular raised design on the surface.