“Well,” said Henry, “I’ll be regent.”
“No,” said Mary, “you must choose one. I’ll tell you how. You must choose the regent by ballot. Lilac leaves make good ballots. Each one of you must consider who you think will be best for regent,—that is, who will have the most discretion and judgment, to decide wisely, and at the same time be mild and gentle, and amiable in manner, so as to be a pleasant commander. Of course, no one must vote for himself.”
“But I don’t understand,” said Rollo. “What are the lilac leaves for?”
“For ballots; that is, for you to write your votes upon. You can write on the under side of a lilac leaf with the point of a pin.”
“Can we?” said Lucy, with a look of curiosity and pleasure.
“Yes,” said Mary, “you need not write the whole name. You can write the first letter—that will be enough. R. stands for Rollo, L. for Lucy, H. for Henry, J. for James, and N. for Nathan.”
“Ho!” said Rollo, “Nathan won’t do for a regent.”
“Perhaps not,” said Mary; “each one of you must vote for the one you think best. Now get your lilac leaves, and I will drop you down some pins.”
The children ran off very eagerly to get the leaves, and then came back, and Mary dropped down four pins. They each took one, and, with the point of it, wrote a letter upon the back of the leaf. Then Mary asked Nathan to carry around his cap, and let them all drop their leaves into it, and then bring them up to her, and she would see who was chosen.
So Nathan, highly pleased with his office, collected the votes in his cap, and brought them up to his sister Mary. She looked them over as she sat at the window, the children all looking up from below, eagerly awaiting the result. At length, Mary told them that there were four leaves in Nathan’s cap, and that three of them had the letter L upon it. “So,” said she, “you see you have chosen Lucy for regent.”