ELEN: See this picture, mother. How pretty the house looks, with its wide windows and porches!
Mother: Yes, it is a fine picture, and such a house would make a lovely home. Men build better dwellings now than they did many years ago.
Percy: Do people build the same kind of houses in all countries?
Mother: Oh, no! If we should visit the Indians, we would find them living in rude tents called wigwams, or teepees, made of mats and the bark of trees. In some countries people live in tents. Where it is very warm they build so they may keep cool. In cold climates they make their houses warm. Can you tell me some things which are used in building houses?
Elmer: Stone, brick, iron, wood, paper, earth, and straw. The Esquimau lives in a house made of large blocks of snow and ice.
Mother: You would not think such a house very warm, but it is the best he can make. Perhaps you have noticed that some houses are large and some are small. Some have many rooms, others but few. They are made in many shapes and colors, and in some countries there are hardly two which look alike.
Amy: Here is another picture. What kind of a house is this, mother?
Mother: That is called a temple. It is built for the purpose of worship.
Helen: Is a meeting-house a temple?