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 . Frank has fixed us a telegraph , so we can write and send things . Wo n't it be jolly ! I ca n't look out to see him do it ; but , when you pull your string , my little bell rings , and I know a message is coming . I send you an orange . Do you like gorver jelly ? People send in lots of goodies , and we will go halves . Good-by . `` Jack '' Away went the basket , and in fifteen minutes it came back from the cottage with nothing in it but the orange . `` Hullo ! Is she mad ? ''
asked XXXXX , as Frank brought the despatch for him to examine .
First Frank Hopkins Hullo Jack Jill Minots Roman gorver minutes