IT was the next morning while Mr. Cabot and Giusippe were still discussing the Blaschka glass flowers that the Italian lad remarked:  
"I have wondered and wondered ever since we went out to Harvard how those fragile flower models were annealed without breaking. It must have been very difficult."
 
"What is annealing?" inquired Jean, holding at arm's length a doll's hat and straightening a feather at one side of it.
 
"Annealing? Why, the gradual cooling of the glass after it has been heated."
 
"What do they heat it for?"
 
"Don't you know how glass is made?" Giusippe asked in surprise.
 
Jean shook her head.
 
"No. How should I?"
 
"Why—but I thought every one knew that!"
 
"I don't see why. How could a girl know about the work you men do unless you take the trouble to tell her?" Jean dimpled. "All through Europe you and Uncle Bob have talked glass, glass, glass—nothing but glass, and as you both seemed to understand what you were talking about I did not like to interrupt and ask questions; but I had no more idea than the man in the moon what you meant sometimes."
 
"Do you mean to say you know nothing at all about the process of glass-making, Jean?" asked Mr. Cabot.
 
"Not a thing."
 
"Well, well, well! You have been a very patient little lady, that is all I can say. Giusippe and I have been both rude and , haven't we, Giusippe? I thought of course you understood; and yet it is not at all strange that you did not. As you say, how could you? Why didn't you ask us, dear?"
 
"Oh, I didn't like to. I hate to seem stupid and be a bother."
 
"You are neither of those things, dear child. Is she, Giusippe?"
 
"I should say not."
 
"Well then, if it is all the same to you, I do wish somebody would tell me whether glass is dug up out of the earth or is made of things mixed together like a pudding," said Jean.
 
Both Giusippe and Uncle Bob laughed.
 
"The pudding idea is the nearer correct. Glass is made from ingredients which are mixed together, boiled, baked, and set away to cool. Isn't that about it, Giusippe?"
 
Giusippe nodded.
 
"I think the best remedy we can administer to this young lady, as well as the most fitting for our own discourtesy to her, is to escort her through a glass factory and let her, with her own eyes, the process. What do you say, Giusippe?"
 
"A capital idea, señor. Then I, too, should have the chance to visit an American factory and compare the process you use here with our Italian method. I should like it above everything else."
 
"That is what we will do then," declared Mr. Cabot. "On my first leisure day we will go, and in the meantime I will hunt up the location of the most satisfactory and nearest glass works."
 
Not more than a week passed before Uncle Bob fulfilled his promise.
 
"Make yourselves ready, oh ye glass-makers," said he one morning at breakfast. "I find after telephoning to the office that I am not needed to-day; therefore, the moment we have swallowed these estimable griddle cakes of Hannah's we will hie us to instruct Jean in the art of manufacturing vases, bottles, tumblers and the various sorts of glassware."
 
The two young people greeted the suggestion with pleasure.
 
"Can you really get away to-day, Uncle Bob?" cried Jean. "What fun we'll have!"
 
"I think it will be fun. We must, however, make Giusippe captain of the expedition for he is the one who really knows glass-making from beginning to end, and can answer all our questions."
 
"I think I might in Murano," returned the Venetian modestly, "but that is no sign that I can do it here; your process may differ from the one we use at home."
 
"Oh, I do not believe so—at least, not in essentials," Mr. Cabot answered.
 
So they started out, and before they had proceeded any distance at all they got into a spirited debate over the tiny lights of glass set in the top of the electric car. The were of ground glass dotted with an all-over pattern of small stars which had been left .
 
"How did they make the stars on that glass?" was Jean's innocent question. "Did they scratch off the thick surface and leave the design of clear glass?"
 
"No indeed," Mr. Cabot replied. "On the contrary they started with the stars and then made the background cloudy."
 
"But I don't see how they could."
 
"Do you, Giusippe?"
 
"I am afraid not, señor."
 
"Good! At last there is one fact about glass-making that I can impart to you. This sort of glass is known as sand-blast glass, and the art of making it, they say, chanced to be discovered near the seashore. It was found that when the strong winds rose and blew the sand against glass window-panes of the houses the small particles, being sharp, cut into the glass surface, and before long wore it to a cloudy white through which it was impossible to see out. Often the glass fronts of lighthouses were injured in this way and the lights dimmed. Finally some man came along who said: 'See here! Why not turn this grinding effect of the sand to some purpose? Why not apply it to transparent glass and make it frosted so one can get light but not see through it? Often such glass would be a convenience.' Therefore this inventor set his brain to the task. Strong currents or streams of sand were directed against a clear glass surface with such force that they cut and ground it until it was no longer transparent. They called the product thus made sand-blast glass. Later they improved upon it by laying a over it so that a desired design was covered and remained protected from the sand blast. The result was a pattern such as you see—clear figures set in a background of clouded glass."
 
"How interesting!"
 
"Yes, isn't it? As is true of so many other of our most clever inventions nature first showed man the path. Ground glass in its modified forms is used for many purposes now; and yet I venture to say few persons know how it came to be discovered."
 
Just at this point the car stopped with a sudden jerk, and Jean and Giusippe to follow, Mr. Cabot got out and entered a large brick building that stood close at hand. Evidently he was expected, for a man came forward to greet him.
 
"Mr. Cabot?" he asked.
 
"Yes. I received your note this morning, so I brought my young charges out at once. It is very good of you to allow us to go through the factory."
 
"We are always glad to see visitors. I will put you in the hands of one of our foremen who will take you about and tell you everything you may want to know."
 
He touched a bell.
 
"Show Mr. Cabot and his friends down-stairs," said he to the boy who answered his call, "and introduce them to Mr. Wyman. Tell him he is to conduct them over the works."
 
Mr. Wyman welcomed them cordially.
 
"We see many visitors here, sir," said he, "and are always glad to have them come. Although glass-making is an old story to us scarce a day passes that some one does not visit us to whom the process is new; and it certainly is interesting if a person has never seen it. Suppose we begin at the very beginning. In this , or trough, you will see the mixture or of which the glass is made. It is composed of red lead and the finest of white beach sand. The lead is what gives the inside of the trough its vermilion color. The sand comes from abroad, and before it can be used it must be and sifted through a series of closely woven cloths until it is smooth and fine as powder. Before we put the mixture into the melting pots we heat it to a given temperature so that it will be less likely to chill the clay pots and break them."
 
"Do you really make glass by melting up that stuff?" asked Jean incredulously.
 
The man smiled.
 
"But isn't it all red?"
 
"The red comes out in the melting. We have to be very careful, however, in weighing out the ingredients, for much of our success depends on the accurate proportions of the materials combined in the batch. Of course the chemical composition differs some for different sorts of glass. It all depends on what kind of glass is to be made. Then too the conditions of the furnaces vary at times, the being better at some seasons than at others. We take a test or proof of every fresh melt, and you would be surprised to see how little these differ. Careful mixing of the raw materials is the first important item of successful glass-making; the second is the by heat of the materials."
 
"The batch is next melted, Jean," explained Giusippe, as they followed Mr. Wyman into the great brick-paved room where the furnaces were.
 
Here indeed was a scene. Numberless men were hurrying hither and , some whirling in the air glowing masses of molten glass; others before the furnace doors balls of it on the end of long iron blow-pipes which were from six to nine feet in length. Everybody was . As soon as a ball of red-hot glass had been collected on the end of a blow-pipe it was rushed off to the blower before it cooled. In and out of the of moving workmen young boys, or carriers, swung along bearing to the annealing ovens on wooden trays or forks newly completed vases or .
 
Jean glanced about, fascinated by the crowd.
 
"Here are the furnaces," the foreman said. "Each one has twelve openings and is built with a low to keep in the heat. The flues or chimneys are in the sides of the furnace. Within, and just beneath the openings or working-holes, stand the great clay pots of molten batch. These pots are made for us from New clay; we used to make them ourselves, but it was a great deal of trouble, and we now find it simpler to buy them. They vary in cost from thirty to seventy-five dollars, according to their size."
 
"And they are liable to break the first time they are used," whispered Giusippe in a jesting undertone.
 
Mr. Wyman caught his words.
 
"Ah, you know something of glass-making then, my young man?"
 
"A little."
 
"The pots are, as you say, a great . Sometimes one will be in constant use three months or longer, and do good service; on the other hand a pot may break the first time using and let all the melt into the furnace. Then we have a lively time, I can tell you, ladling it out, and taking care in the meantime that none of the other pots are upset."
 
Giusippe nodded appreciatively.
 
Many a day just such a had occurred when he had been working; he recalled how all the men had been ............