midnight
`` Then , as soon as I get it , I 'll splice this wire and fix it so that the line will be open for regular service again . We do n't want to interrupt traffic by telegraph or telephone , if we can help it . But this wo n't make much difference at this hour of the night . I do n't believe that many messages are sent over this wire after midnight as a rule . '' They had to wait twenty minutes for the reply , but when it came Jack was told to use his own best judgment , and that General Harkness would rely upon him to get the highly important information he had sent to headquarters to General Bean . `` I thought we 'd be allowed to do that , '' said Jack , after he had put the wire in order again . In the car there was plenty of telegraph wire for repairing lines cut by the enemy , so the task was not at all a difficult one .