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FRANK AT HOME.
Mr.Frost's farm was situated about three-quarters of a mile from the village.

It comprised fifty acres, of which twenty were suitable for tillage, the remainder being about equally divided between woodland and pasture.
Mr.Frost had for some years before his marriage been a painter, and had managed to save up from his earnings not far from a thousand dollars.
Thinking, however, that farming would be more favorable to health, he purchased his fifty-acre farm for twenty-eight hundred dollars, payable one thousand down, and the rest remaining on mortgage.

At the date of our story he had succeeded in paying up the entire amount within eight hundred dollars, a mortgage for that amount being held by Squire Haynes.
He had not been able to accomplish this without strict economy, in which his wife had cheerfully aided him.
But his family had grown larger and more expensive.

Besides Frank, who was the oldest, there were now three younger children--Alice, twelve years of age; Maggie, ten; and Charlie, seven.
The farmhouse was small but comfortable, and the family had never been tempted to sigh for a more costly or luxurious home.