and should reach to the ceiling of the room in which the fireplace is to be built. Set the frame, A, B, C, D (Fig. 253), against the wall; then take Z (Fig. 254) and raise it up until it touches the ceiling, and drive a nail at the intersection of X and Y into Z, and another exactly in the centre of A, B; drive them far enough to hold Z in an upright position, but leave enough of the nail-heads protruding to make it easy to redraw them and remove the temporary braces, X, Y, and Z (Fig. 254), when the whole frame will be finished and ready to use. [Illustration: FIG. 254.--The Back of the Chimney.] Take a stick half the length of A, B (E, F, Fig. 254), and nail the end of Z exactly to the centre of E, F. By pushing up one end or the other you may put E, F exactly at right angles, or “square” with Z. When the stick, E, F, is found to be square, cut two more sticks, A, E and F, B, each a trifle longer than the distance from A to E; cut the ends of these sticks to fit on the top of A, B, and “toe-nail” them in place, as is shown in the small diagram in the upper right-hand corner of Fig. 254. Allow the upper ends of A, E, and F, B to slip under the ends of the stick, E, F, as in the illustration, and nail them securely in place; then saw off the protruding ends even with E, F, and the back of your frame is finished. The Front Frame (Fig. 255) is of the same width as A, B, Fig. 253, but it is the width of the strips R and S, Fig. 256 (two inches), shorter than the back. The side-pieces, G, N, and H, Q (Fig. 255), are set with their edges facing the front, and the top-piece, G, H (Fig. 255), is fitted in with its broad surface facing the front and flush with the tops and front edges of the side-pieces, G, N, and H, Q; it is held in place by nails driven through the side-pieces in the ends of G, H. The piece J, K, is exactly the same length as G, H, and forms the top of the fireplace, but unlike G, H, the piece J, K, has its thin edge flush with the front. It is held in place by nails which are driven through from the outside of the two uprights, G, N, and H, Q. All these pieces must be cut and fitted with exactness, or the framework will be of no use. Fig. 256 shows how The Remaining Pieces, LO, MP, NO, and PQ, are placed, and the figure of the young workman gives an idea of their proportions which cannot be given in figures, for the reason that the opening for the fireplace must be made to suit the size of the boy who is to be Santa Claus. [Illustration: FIG. 255.--The Front Frame.] To finish the framework is now A Simple Task.