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."

"Yes, I voted for Lucy," said Rollo. "I thought she would be the best."

"And so did I," said James and Henry.

Lucy looked down, and felt a little embarrassed at finding herself
raised so suddenly to the dignity of regent; and she asked Mary what she
was to do.

"O, walk along with them just as you would if you had not been chosen;
only you will decide all the questions that come up, such as where you
shall go, and how long you shall stay in the different places. The
others may give you their opinions, if you ask them; but they must let
you decide, and they must all submit to your decisions."

"Well, come," said Lucy; "we'll go down the lane first." So she took
hold of Thanny's hand, and walked along, the other children following.
They passed through the great gate, and soon disappeared from Mary's
view.

They were gone two or three hours. At length, when the sun had nearly
gone down, Mary heard voices in the front of the house. She left her
back window, and went around to a front window to see. She found them
returning, and all talking together with the greatest volubility. They
had their baskets full of various