I 'd like that , and so would Jill , for I know she wants to hear from me . '' `` There 's one trouble , though ; I shall have to leave you alone for a few minutes while I rig up the ropes ; '' and Frank looked sober , for he was a faithful boy , and did not want to desert his post . `` Oh , never mind ; I wo n't want anything . If I do , I can pound for Ann . '' `` And wake mother . I 'll fix you a better way than that ; '' and , full of inventive genius , our young Edison spliced the poker to part of a fishing-rod in a jiffy , making a long-handled hook which reached across the room . `` There 's an arm for you ; now hook away , and let 's see how it works , '' he said , handing over the instrument to Jack , who proceeded to show its unexpected capabilities by hooking the cloth off the table in attempting to get his handkerchief , catching Frank by the hair when fishing for a book , and breaking a pane of glass in trying to draw down the curtain . `` It 's so everlasting long , I ca n't manage it , '' laughed Jack , as it finally caught in his bed-hangings , and nearly pulled them , ring and all , down upon his head . `` Let it alone , unless you need something very much , and do n't bother about the glass . It 's just what we want for the telegraph wire or rope to go through . Keep still , and I 'll have the thing running in ten minutes ; '' and , delighted with the job , Frank hurried away , leaving Jack to compose a message to send as soon as it was possible . `` What in the world is that flying across the Minots ' yard , -- a brown hen or a boy 's kite ? '' exclaimed old Miss Hopkins , peering out of her window at the singular performances going on in her opposite neighbor 's garden . First , Frank appeared with a hatchet and chopped a clear space in the hedge between his own house and the cottage ; next , a clothes line was passed through this aperture and fastened somewhere on the other side ; lastly , a small covered basket , slung on this rope , was seen hitching along , drawn either way by a set of strings ; then , as if satisfied with his job , Frank retired , whistling `` Hail Columbia . '' `` It 's those children at their pranks again . I thought broken bones would n't keep them out of mischief long , '' said the old lady , watching with great interest the mysterious basket travelling up and down the rope from the big house to the cottage . If she had seen what came and went over the wires of the `` Great International Telegraph , '' she would have laughed till her spectacles flew off her Roman nose . A letter from Jack , with a large orange , went first , explaining the new enterprise : -- `` Dear Jill , -- It 's too bad you ca n't come over to see me . I am pretty well , but awful tired of keeping still . I want to see you ever so much .
XXXXX has fixed us a telegraph , so we can write and send things .
Edison Frank Hopkins Jack Jill Minots Roman Telegraph fishing-rod minutes