Then King advanced to Delight, and holding up the other crown, began his declamatory effort.

“Oh, Queen!  Oh, White Queen!  Oh, our beautiful sovereign!  I bring to thee a crown,—­a crown to crown you with, to show to all that you are our beloved and beloving Queen of May.  Accept, oh, Queen, this crown and sceptre, and with them the assurance of our alleged loyalty, our humble submission, and our majestic royalty!  I am a little at a loss for any thing further to say, as I can’t think of any more highfalutin words, so you may as well put on your crown, and let’s have some fun.”

But though King’s high-flown language failed him, it was with a very magnificent manner that he crowned his Queen and gave her the flower-trimmed sceptre.

Then Delight, looking lovelier than ever in her added regalia, made her own little speech.

“I thank you, my people, for your tokens of love and loyalty.  I thank you for choosing me to be your queen, and my rule shall be a happy one.  My only law is, for everybody to do just what they want to, and so I pronounce the Coronation Ceremonies over.”

Delight bowed, and sat down on her throne, while the audience applauded heartily.

Then the two Queens came down from their bowers, and Royalty gave way to the members of the Jinks Club.

“Now, let’s cut up jinks!” cried King, capering about in his long Court robes, and looking like a very merry Monarch, indeed.  “First the May-pole dance, that’ll limber us up some.”

A May-pole had been erected near by, and from its top depended long ribbons of various colors.  Each of the party took one of these ribbons, and under the direction of Miss Hart, they danced round the May-pole, weaving the ribbons in and out.  It was a complicated matter at first, but they soon learned how, and wove and unwove the ribbons many times without getting tangled once.  As they danced, they sang a little May song that Miss Hart had taught them, and as they danced faster and faster it became a frolic rather than a dignified rite.

At last, all out of breath they dropped on the grass, and begged Miss Hart to tell them a story.

“I’ll tell you of the origin of the May-day celebrations,” she said.  “May-day has been a festival since very ancient times.  Its reason for being is the natural feeling that comes to every one at the glad spring time.  When Nature breaks out into new life and beauty, our hearts feel a sympathetic gladness, and a celebration of the spring is the natural outcome.  The most primitive people felt this inclination, and they used to gather the flowers that bloomed in profusion about them, set them up, and to pay them a sort of homage, expressed in dance and song.  The old Romans had what they called Floralia, or Floral Games, which began on the twenty-eighth of April, and lasted several days.  Later in England, and especially in the Middle Ages, it was the custom for people of all ranks, even the