"And beyond the bridge I can see two new houses, on the same side. Whose are they?"
"They belong to the two sons of Messer Angelo Beroviero, who have furnaces of their own, all the way to the corner of the Grand Canal."
"Is there a Grand Canal in Murano?" asked Aristarchi.
"They call it so," answered the boatman with some contempt. "The Beroviero have several houses on it, too."
"It seems to me that Beroviero owns most of Murano," observed the Greek. "He must be very rich."
"He is by far the richest. But there is Alvise Trevisan, a rich man, too, and there are two or three others. The island and all the glass-works are theirs, amongst them."
"I have business with Messer Angelo," said Aristarchi. "But if he is such a great man he will hardly be in the glass-house."
"I will ask," answered the boatman.
In a few minutes he made his boat fast to the steps before the glass-house, went ashore and knocked at the door. Aristarchi leaned back in his seat, chewing pistachio nuts, which he carried in an embroidered leathern bag at his belt. His right hand played mechanically with the short string of thick amber beads which he used for counting. The June sun blazed down upon his swarthy face.
At the grating beside the door the porter's head appeared, partially visible behind the bars.