{"id":"01KG6YGB4RPEMVS858YPW8EK44","cid":"bafkreid322uk2btrwbq7fsqzj6za2b6fm2pwyqveb44s37b4s5deabhwmm","type":"segment","properties":{"description":"# Consultation with Mr. Scribe and the Argument for Removal\n## Overview\nThis is a segment extracted from the short story \"[I and My Chimney](arke:01KG6YFYGCYAYC9GHGT2Z086S9)\" by Herman Melville. The segment, titled \"Consultation with Mr. Scribe and the Argument for Removal,\" spans lines 600-672 of the source file, \"[i_and_my_chimney.txt](arke:01KG6YDDFE1YJ2Q37Q9JT1AJVB)\". It describes the narrator's consultation with a master-mason, Mr. Scribe, regarding the potential removal of the chimney.\n\n## Context\nThe short story \"[I and My Chimney](arke:01KG6YFYGCYAYC9GHGT2Z086S9)\" is part of the \"[Melville](arke:01KG6YCG626JN4FCG8QK17CQCF)\" collection. This segment follows \"[Inconveniences and the Wife's Proposition](arke:01KG6YGB4RVFGNQHRZ9ES6PKBK)\" and precedes \"[Family's Eagerness and Narrator's Delay](arke:01KG6YGB4RB9JG48NZ7WSHT5TF)\" within the narrative. The file was processed by the structure-extraction-lambda function.\n\n## Contents\nIn this segment, the narrator recounts his conversation with Mr. Scribe, a master-mason, about the possibility of removing the large chimney in his house. The narrator initially resists the idea, but his wife and daughters persuade him to consider it. Mr. Scribe is summoned for a consultation, during which he inspects the chimney's foundation in the cellar, noting its substantial size. He calculates the amount of space and potential financial loss the chimney occupies. Ultimately, Mr. Scribe concludes that the chimney can be removed without rashness, but the narrator remains hesitant, promising to think about it.\n","description_generated_at":"2026-01-30T07:57:51.244Z","description_model":"gemini-2.5-flash-lite","description_title":"Consultation with Mr. Scribe and the Argument for Removal","end_line":672,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T07:57:24.702Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Consultation with Mr. Scribe and the Argument for Removal","source_file":"01KG6YDDFE1YJ2Q37Q9JT1AJVB","start_line":600,"text":"So said I then. But who is sure of himself, especially an old man, with\r\nboth wife and daughters ever at his elbow and ear? In time, I was\r\npersuaded to think a little better of it; in short, to take the matter\r\ninto preliminary consideration. At length it came to pass that a\r\nmaster-mason—a rough sort of architect—one Mr. Scribe, was summoned to\r\na conference. I formally introduced him to my chimney. A previous\r\nintroduction from my wife had introduced him to myself. He had been not\r\na little employed by that lady, in preparing plans and estimates for\r\nsome of her extensive operations in drainage. Having, with much ado,\r\nextorted from my spouse the promise that she would leave us to an\r\nunmolested survey, I began by leading Mr. Scribe down to the root of\r\nthe matter, in the cellar. Lamp in hand, I descended; for though\r\nup-stairs it was noon, below it was night.\r\n\r\nWe seemed in the pyramids; and I, with one hand holding my lamp over\r\nhead, and with the other pointing out, in the obscurity, the hoar mass\r\nof the chimney, seemed some Arab guide, showing the cobwebbed mausoleum\r\nof the great god Apis.\r\n\r\n“This is a most remarkable structure, sir,” said the master-mason,\r\nafter long contemplating it in silence, “a most remarkable structure,\r\nsir.”\r\n\r\n“Yes,” said I complacently, “every one says so.”\r\n\r\n“But large as it appears above the roof, I would not have inferred the\r\nmagnitude of this foundation, sir,” eyeing it critically.\r\n\r\nThen taking out his rule, he measured it.\r\n\r\n“Twelve feet square; one hundred and forty-four square feet! Sir, this\r\nhouse would appear to have been built simply for the accommodation of\r\nyour chimney.”\r\n\r\n“Yes, my chimney and me. Tell me candidly, now,” I added, “would you\r\nhave such a famous chimney abolished?”\r\n\r\n“I wouldn’t have it in a house of mine, sir, for a gift,” was the\r\nreply. “It’s a losing affair altogether, sir. Do you know, sir, that in\r\nretaining this chimney, you are losing, not only one hundred and\r\nforty-four square feet of good ground, but likewise a considerable\r\ninterest upon a considerable principal?”\r\n\r\n“How?”\r\n\r\n“Look, sir!” said he, taking a bit of red chalk from his pocket, and\r\nfiguring against a whitewashed wall, “twenty times eight is so and so;\r\nthen forty-two times thirty—nine is so and so—ain’t it, sir? Well, add\r\nthose together, and subtract this here, then that makes so and so,”\r\nstill chalking away.\r\n\r\nTo be brief, after no small ciphering, Mr. Scribe informed me that my\r\nchimney contained, I am ashamed to say how many thousand and odd\r\nvaluable bricks.\r\n\r\n“No more,” said I fidgeting. “Pray now, let us have a look above.”\r\n\r\nIn that upper zone we made two more circumnavigations for the first and\r\nsecond floors. That done, we stood together at the foot of the stairway\r\nby the front door; my hand upon the knob, and Mr. Scribe hat in hand.\r\n\r\n“Well, sir,” said he, a sort of feeling his way, and, to help himself,\r\nfumbling with his hat, “well, sir, I think it can be done.”\r\n\r\n“What, pray, Mr. Scribe; _what_ can be done?”\r\n\r\n“Your chimney, sir; it can without rashness be removed, I think.”\r\n\r\n“I will think of it, too, Mr. Scribe,” said I, turning the knob and\r\nbowing him towards the open space without, “I will _think_ of it, sir;\r\nit demands consideration; much obliged to ye; good morning, Mr.\r\nScribe.”\r\n\r","title":"Consultation with Mr. Scribe and the Argument for Removal"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG6YFYGCYAYC9GHGT2Z086S9","peer_type":"short_story","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG6YDDFE1YJ2Q37Q9JT1AJVB","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG6YCG626JN4FCG8QK17CQCF","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG6YGB4RVFGNQHRZ9ES6PKBK","peer_type":"segment","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG6YGB4RB9JG48NZ7WSHT5TF","peer_type":"segment","predicate":"next"}],"ver":3,"created_at":"2026-01-30T07:57:25.528Z","ts":"2026-01-30T07:57:51.444Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF5C36SQEVDHC9CBNZZJH9K"}}