Then the children threw down the lilac leaves they had gathered, and followed Mary into the play room. They all came around the cabinet, and began to open it and talk about the curiosities. But Mary told them that, if they were going to have a society, they must not touch the cabinet until they had appointed a cabinet keeper—they ought all to go and sit down.
So they went and sat down.
“And now you must not talk at all, until the president is chosen,” said Mary. “You must all write upon these papers the name of the person you think best for president, and then bring them to me. You see,” she continued, as she distributed the papers around, to the other children, “that I am acting as president just now, until we get one chosen. That is the way men do. I asked father about it. He said that the oldest person, or one of the oldest, generally took charge of the proceedings, until a chairman was chosen.”
“A chairman?” said Rollo.
“Yes, or president; sometimes they call him a chairman.”
So the children took their papers, and began to prepare for writing their ballots.
“What shall we put our papers on, cousin Mary, to write?” said Lucy.