Matt's father, Mr. Hallowell, has left his son alone on the family homestead in Maine while he goes back to Massachusetts to fetch his wife, daughter, and new baby.

It's an onerous responsibility for a young man of Matt's age to stay behind and look after the homestead, but Mr. Hallowell trusts his son and knows he can be relied upon to take care of the place while he's away.

Mr. Hallowell reckons that he'll be away for about seven weeks, which, of course, is forty-nine days. He advises Matt to keep track of time by making a notch on a stick each day. This way, he'll have a pretty good idea of when he expects to see his family again.

Matt makes seven notches on seven sticks. Each stick represents one week, and each notch represents a day. So by the time Matt makes the seventh notch on the seventh stick, then he knows that it's only a matter of time before his family arrives at the Maine homestead.

They could arrive at any moment, his father walking into the clearing, bringing Matt's mother, his sister, and the new baby. Matt is excited at the prospect and greatly looks forward to having everyone around the table again.