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 can’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.  Won’t it be jolly!  I can’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 Jack, as Frank brought the despatch for him to examine.

But, at the first touch, the hollow peel opened, and out fell a letter, two gum-drops, and an owl made of a peanut, with round eyes drawn at the end where the stem formed a funny beak.  Two bits of straw were the legs, and the face looked so like Dr. Whiting that both boys laughed at the sight.

“That’s so like Jill; she’d make fun if she was half dead.  Let’s see what she says;” and Jack read the little note, which showed a sad neglect of the spelling-book:—­

“Dear Jacky,—­I can’t stir and it’s horrid.  The telly graf is very nice and we will have fun with it.  I never ate any gorver jelly.  The orange was first rate.  Send me a book to read.  All about bears and ships and crockydiles.  The doctor was coming to see you, so I sent him the quickest way.  Molly Loo says it is dreadful lonesome at school without us.  Yours truly,

“Jill”

Jack immediately despatched the book and a sample of guava jelly, which unfortunately upset on the way, to the great detriment of “The Wild Beasts of Asia and Africa.”  Jill promptly responded with the loan of a tiny black kitten, who emerged spitting and scratching, to Jack’s great delight; and he was cudgelling his brains as to how a fat white rabbit could be transported, when a shrill whistle from without saved Jill from that inconvenient offering.

“It’s the fellows; do you want to see them?” asked Frank, gazing down with calm superiority upon the three eager faces which looked up at him.

“Guess I do!” and Jack promptly threw the kitten overboard, scorning to be seen by any manly eye amusing himself with such girlish toys.

Bang! went the front door; tramp, tramp, tramp, came six booted feet up the stairs; and, as Frank threw wide the door, three large beings paused on the threshold to deliver the courteous “Hullo!” which is the established greeting among boys on all social occasions.

“Come along, old fellows; I’m ever so glad to see you!” cried the invalid, with such energetic demonstrations of the arms that he looked as if about to fly or crow, like an excited young cockerel.