haere tonu o ringaringa mau hikareti. I muri i ngaa auahi o toona hikareti, ka paatai mai teetahi o ngaa waahine nei, ‘He aha too koorua piirangi?’ Ka mea atu taku hoa, ‘He whare reti too maaua hiahia. I whakaaro maaua teeraa pea kei a koorua eetahi whare tootika, ngaawari te utu, hei titiro maa maaua.’ Ka koorero anoo te wahine nei, me te auahi mai, ‘Nui atu ngaa whare kei a maatou, engari mehemea e hiahia ana koe ki te titiro i eetahi o ngaa whare nei, me utu mai koe i too moni reehita—e toru paauna me te toru herengi. Maa teenei e whakapuaki mai ki a koorua, ngaa koorero moo ngaa whare nei. Nui atu ngaa whare kei a maatou. Ahakoa he aha too hiahia, kei a maatou he whare moou. Ko ngaa utu mai i te rima paauna tae atu ki te tekau maa rua. Kia moohio mai koorua e kore o maatou whare e piiti i eetahi atu o Aakarana nei. Utua mai te moni reehita, ka hoatu e au, ngaa korero moo ngaa whare nei.’ I a ia e koorero nei e puta mai ana te auahi i toona ihu, i toona waha, tata tonu i oona taringa. He auahi te kai! Ko teetahi mahi anoo aana he whakatikatika i oona moohiti, ahakoa te tika o te noho mai i rung i tana ihu. Ka whakaaro ahau, naa te aorere kee te haere a teenei wahine! Kua kite ahau i te wahine peenei i roto i ngaa pikitia Amerikana. I teenei raa kua kite aatiana ahau. Ka koorero atu taku hoa, ‘He pono too koorero e koorero mai naa koe? He whare tootika aau hei titiro maa maaua, kaaore raanei?’ Ko te wahine auahi, ‘Utua mai too moni reehita, ka kite ai koe’. Naa, i paatai peenei ai taku hoa, naa te mea kua rongo maaua i ngaa korero whakatuupato a oo maaua hoa. Ko taa raatou korero mai i peenei naa. Kauaa e utua he moni kia kite raanoo koe i ngaa whare. Mehemea ka utu koe i too moni i mua, ka tonoa koe ki te whai whare keehua, araa, he whare kua riro noa atu i te tangata. Ka moumou too moni, ka kataina koe e te iwi whaanako nei, naa too rorirori ki te hoatu noa i too moni. Ko te koorero o aa maaua hoa, he tino mahi naa te hanga nei teenei, ki ngaa Maaori, me oo taatou huaanga o Haamoa, o Rarotonga, me eetahi atu whenua o te Moananuiakiwa. Naa, kia tuupato koorua, kia tuupato, kia tuupato. I a maatou e koorerorero nei kei te paatootoo mai ngaa koorero whakatuupato nei ki oo maaua maahunga. Ka mea atu au ki te wahine ra, ‘Hei aha, ka haere maaua ko taku hoa ki waho ki te whiriwhiri i te take nei’. Haere ana good houses with reasonable rent for us to look at.’ The lady spoke again with the smoke clouds rising, ‘we have lots of houses, but if you want to look at them we would like you to pay in a registration fee—three guineas. When this is done we will be able to tell you about the houses. We have many houses. No matter what you may want, we have the house for you. Our rentals range from £5 to £12. We would like you to know that our houses will compete with the best in Auckland. Now just your registration fee and I shall give you the addresses of these houses.’ As she spoke the smoke was issuing forth from her nose, from her mouth, and very nearly from her ears. There was smoke everywhere. Another thing she did was to continually adjust her glasses even thought they sat perfectly upon her nose. I thought, here is a woman who travels at the speed of aeroplanes. I had seen women like this in American pictures. This day I was face to face with one. My wife spoke, ‘Is what you are saying true? Do you have some good houses for us to look at, or not?’ The smoky lady said, ‘Pay your registration fee and you shall see’. Now my wife had asked in this particular vein because we had heard the warnings of our friends. What they said went something like this. Don't pay over any money unless you have seen the houses first. If you pay your money first you will be sent to find some ghost houses, that is, houses long since occupied by others. You will waste your money and the thieves will laugh at you, at your stupidity in parting