As to our young rattle-pates, they were not at all curious to learn whether the amusement was of ancient or modern invention; leaving that to be ascertained by graver heads, they entered with so much ardour into the spirit of the game, that time flew unperceived, till their amusement was at last interrupted by the castle bell announcing the dinner-hour.
On the following day, as there was not a sufficient number of battledores and shuttlecocks for every body, one of the young visitors, named Valeria, contrived a very ingenious means of supplying their place. She took a small hoop, which she had procured from a barrel of oysters, and bound it round with pink and white ribbon; five or six young persons, armed with sticks, stood in a group, one of them threw this hoop to a great height in the air, and each of them caught it and threw it up again in her turn. When any one failed, they were obliged to quit the game for a moment, or to give a forfeit. This is called the game of the “_flying ring_,” it resembles in many respects the play of the “_funnel_,” which we shall speak of by-and-by.
Sometimes, in order to heighten the pleasure of the game, the players added three little bells to the ring, and these bells striking while the ring turned in the air, served to announce its approach.
THE GAMES OF THREAD-MY-NEEDLE, AND THE WOLF.
Madame D’Hernilly’s birth-day was celebrated by her family without parade or ceremony: the offerings upon this occasion were those of the heart alone. The neighbouring farmers, and superior class of peasants, presented themselves at the castle, to offer their congratulations to Madame on the return of the day; their little girls, dressed in white, brought her flowers. Madame D’Hernilly received with pleasure the simple offerings of these worthy people, for whom she prepared pleasures suited to their taste. The court of the castle became the theatre of a _fête champêtre_, which not only lasted the whole day, but was prolonged during the evening, by the light of a number of small lamps. The villagers amused themselves with dancing, and at night they were regaled with a simple collation.
[Illustration: Girls amusing themselves outdoors]
While the villagers were enjoying the dance, their children were diverting themselves in the gardens of the castle with the young ladies and their visitors. As the games which they commonly played would not suffice for the amusement of so many, Ernestina, who had a very ready invention, proposed to them a new game, which she assured them was quite original. We know that children, and particularly young persons who are just past childhood, play sometimes at a game called “_Who will laugh last?_” The mode of playing this game is very simple; they look each other full in the face, using at the same time every effort to preserve their gravity, and the first who smiles, even in the slightest degree, gives a forfeit, or else her companions impose a slight penance upon her.