{"id":"01KG6G87R6HH87RD2TH6HECZM0","cid":"bafkreifcgcs6py6rhjfnbdhhqx3utgcdtahvplhsk3wzcwl7a6op7hgrre","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":9394,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T03:48:16.153Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 11","source_file":"01KG6FXSCNX5F3D880P3YP3PKR","start_line":9335,"text":"his grand canal through the Isthmus of Corinth. Nor will I take oath,\r\nthat, had her project been accomplished, then, by help of lights hung at\r\njudicious intervals through the tunnel, some Belzoni or other might have\r\nsucceeded in future ages in penetrating through the masonry, and\r\nactually emerging into the dining-room, and once there, it would have\r\nbeen inhospitable treatment of such a traveller to have denied him a\r\nrecruiting meal.\r\n\r\nBut my bustling wife did not restrict her objections, nor in the end\r\nconfine her proposed alterations to the first floor. Her ambition was of\r\nthe mounting order. She ascended with her schemes to the second floor,\r\nand so to the attic. Perhaps there was some small ground for her\r\ndiscontent with things as they were. The truth is, there was no regular\r\npassage-way upstairs or down, unless we again except that little\r\norchestra-gallery before mentioned. And all this was owing to the\r\nchimney, which my gamesome spouse seemed despitefully to regard as the\r\nbully of the house. On all its four sides, nearly all the chambers\r\nsidled up to the chimney for the benefit of a fireplace. The chimney\r\nwould not go to them; they must needs go to it. The consequence was,\r\nalmost every room, like a philosophical system, was in itself an entry,\r\nor passage-way to other rooms, and systems of rooms--a whole suite of\r\nentries, in fact. Going through the house, you seem to be forever going\r\nsomewhere, and getting nowhere. It is like losing one’s self in the\r\nwoods; round and round the chimney you go, and if you arrive at all, it\r\nis just where you started, and so you begin again, and again get\r\nnowhere. Indeed--though I say it not in the way of fault-finding at\r\nall--never was there so labyrinthine an abode. Guests will tarry with me\r\nseveral weeks, and every now and then, be anew astonished at some\r\nunforeseen apartment.\r\n\r\nThe puzzling nature of the mansion, resulting from the chimney, is\r\npeculiarly noticeable in the dining-room, which has no less than nine\r\ndoors, opening in all directions, and into all sorts of places. A\r\nstranger for the first time entering this dining-room, and naturally\r\ntaking no special heed at what door he entered, will, upon rising to\r\ndepart, commit the strangest blunders. Such, for instance, as opening\r\nthe first door that comes handy, and finding himself stealing upstairs\r\nby the back passage. Shutting that door, he will proceed to another, and\r\nbe aghast at the cellar yawning at his feet. Trying a third, he\r\nsurprises the housemaid at her work. In the end, no more relying on his\r\nown unaided efforts, he procures a trusty guide in some passing person,\r\nand in good time successfully emerges. Perhaps as curious a blunder as\r\nany, was that of a certain stylish young gentleman, a great exquisite,\r\nin whose judicious eyes my daughter Anna had found especial favour. He\r\ncalled upon the young lady one evening, and found her alone in the\r\ndining-room at her needlework. He stayed rather late; and after\r\nabundance of superfine discourse, all the while retaining his hat and\r\ncane, made his profuse adieus, and with repeated graceful bows proceeded\r\nto depart, after the fashion of courtiers from the Queen, and by so\r\ndoing, opening a door at random, with one hand placed behind, very\r\neffectually succeeded in backing himself into a dark pantry, where he\r\ncarefully shut himself up, wondering there was no light in the entry.\r\nAfter several strange noises as of a cat among the crockery, he\r\nreappeared through the same door, looking uncommonly crestfallen, and,\r\nwith a deeply embarrassed air, requested my daughter to designate at\r\nwhich of the nine he should find exit. When the mischievous Anna told me\r\nthe story, she said it was surprising how unaffected and matter-of-fact\r\nthe young gentleman’s manner was after his reappearance. He was more\r\ncandid than ever, to be sure; having inadvertently thrust his white kids\r\ninto an open drawer of Havana sugar, under the impression, probably,\r","title":"Chunk 11"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG6G6QRNCH782S2B3576MSHF","peer_type":"article","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG6FXSCNX5F3D880P3YP3PKR","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG2T49K0H5GDRB0G4YDTPG8H","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG6G87R0N0N64AA1KB3041W7","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG6G87R648C05FHC9SP6PTY8","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T03:48:19.846Z","ts":"2026-01-30T03:48:30.726Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}