"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 won'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 can'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 don'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.