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49. Hunter Destroys

Alphy taught his sons, early in life, the skill of carpenter work. When Ivan was approximately thirteen years old, Alphy taught him how to build the roof rafters for a house. This was done on a small scale, as Ivan built a doll house for his kid sister, Eileen. Alphy taught Ivan that the same principle applies to a bigger house, only on a larger scale.

Ivan derived as much (or more) enjoyment from building the doll house, as Eileen would have playing with it. Ivan had put extras in it, even a deck around the house.

Eileen would sometimes try to follow Ivan, but for the most part, her brother was more interested in playing with Hunter, the family dog. There were, however, some exceptions to this.

One winter day, when Eileen was about three and a half years old, Margurita had dressed her warmly to go outside. Eileen wore a red coat, which had a white fur trim around the hood. The coat was

quite warm and pretty.

Ivan decided that he would take Eileen for a ride on the sleigh. Alphy had enclosed the sleigh with a wooden ‘back’, so that a young child would not slide off, and Margurita had put a cushion on the bottom for Eileen to sit on. Ivan and Eileen spent the entire afternoon outside. They both enjoyed the fun. Margurita watched them through the kitchen window. Ivan hauled the sleigh around the yard and Margurita could see the top of Eileen’s head, bobbing up and down, as Ivan pulled the sleigh up and over the drifts of snow.

The only one who seemed a bit put out by this activity was

Hunter. At first, Hunter had tried to follow Ivan, but the sleigh seemed to always get in his way. Hunter had also tried running

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