“No, he can’t belong to the society,” said Rollo; “he has too much work to do.”
The fact was, that Rollo wanted to be cabinet keeper himself, and so he was opposed to any arrangement which would be likely to result in the election of Jonas. But Mary said that it was not necessary that any one should be a member of the society, in order to be chosen cabinet keeper. She said he might be chosen, if the children thought best, even if he was not a member. “But then,” said she, “you must consider all the circumstances, and vote for the one who, you honestly think, will take the best care of the curiosities, and arrange them best.”
The children then wrote their ballots, and brought them to Mary. Mary asked Lucy to count them. Lucy said she had not written her vote herself yet.
“Well, write it quick then,” said Mary.
“But I can’t think,” said Lucy, “whether I had better vote for Jonas or Rollo.”
“Well,” said Mary, “you have only to consider whether it will be best for the museum to be in Jonas’s hands, or in Rollo’s.”
“But I have been thinking,” said Lucy, “that it is all Rollo‘s plan, and his museum; and that he ought to be cabinet keeper, if he wants to be.”
“There is something in that,” said Mary; “though generally, in choosing officers, we ought to act for the good of the society, not for the good of the officers.”
“But it is my cabinet,” said Rollo; “Jonas made it for me.”
“That may be,” said Mary; “that is, it may have been yours at the beginning; but when you invite us all to come and form a society, you give up your claim to it, and it comes to belong to the society; at any rate, the right to manage it belongs to the society, and we must do what will be best for the whole.”