Then a pretty blue ball, spangled with gold, hit one of the vermicelli rackets. The ball went right through the racket; but since it had lost velocity, it hung motionless in mid-air.
While the ball was hanging thus, the two players who had the rackets of parchment tossed up to decide which of the two should send the ball back.
The Ball hung up thus
This fell to the part of the fair girl, who advanced with the stately steps of a quadrille, while the ball hung awaiting her, and with one short stroke she hit it towards one of the teacups.
The ball rushed forward undeviatingly; but, as it neared the cup, its speed slackened so as not to break it. Finally it crept in as gently as a baby is put in a cradle.
"For you, Vera, for you," cried the fair girl who had hit the ball.
"Thank you, my love," replied she who had been called Vera.
And thus the game went on; whenever a girl hit one of the balls hanging in mid-air she cried out the name of the friend to whom she offered it.
By this ingenious method, without disputes or complications, the eight cups received each its ball, and when the game was over Vera took her ball, Dorothea hers, Simonetta hers, and so on, until each girl had her ball.