{"id":"01KG6YH19AQEWW8E8THBD7V4CZ","cid":"bafkreidzvjcw7u5tlgmifwuzrahydeqsd4ns3ndou7dcn52q4wksidqs44","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":2748,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T07:57:45.581Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 8","source_file":"01KG6YDD8GKW0DRD5H2MY1NRZ7","start_line":2689,"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\r\nat judicious intervals through the tunnel, some Belzoni or other might\r\nhave succeeded 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 traveler 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\r\nof the mounting order. She ascended with her schemes to the second\r\nfloor, and so to the attic. Perhaps there was some small ground for\r\nher discontent with things as they were. The truth is, there was no\r\nregular passage-way up-stairs or down, unless we again except that\r\nlittle orchestra-gallery before mentioned. And all this was owing to\r\nthe chimney, which my gamesome spouse seemed despitefully to regard as\r\nthe bully 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,\r\nit is 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\r\nme several weeks and every now and then, be anew astonished at some\r\nunforseen 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 which 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 up-stairs\r\nby the back passage. Shutting that he will proceed to another, and be\r\naghast at the cellar yawning at his feet. Trying a third, he surprises\r\nthe housemaid at her work. In the end, no more relying on his own\r\nunaided 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 favor.\r\nHe called upon the young lady one evening, and found her alone in\r\nthe dining-room at her needlework. He stayed rather late; and after\r\nabundance of superfine discourse, all the while retaining his hat\r\nand cane, made his profuse adieus, and with repeated graceful bows\r\nproceeded to depart, after fashion of courtiers from the Queen, and by\r\nso doing, opening a door at random, with one hand placed behind, very\r\neffectually succeeded in backing himself into a dark pantry, where\r\nhe carefully shut himself up, wondering there was no light in the\r\nentry. After several strange noises as of a cat among the crockery,\r\nhe reappeared through the same door, looking uncommonly crestfallen,\r\nand, with a deeply embarrassed air, requested my daughter to designate\r\nat which of the nine he should find exit. When the mischievous Anna\r\ntold me the story, she said it was surprising how unaffected and\r\nmatter-of-fact the young gentleman's manner was after his reappearance.\r\nHe was more candid than ever, to be sure; having inadvertently\r\nthrust his white kids into an open drawer of Havana sugar, under the\r","title":"Chunk 8"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG6YGBGPFPH23W72RDZNFT0X","peer_type":"segment","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG6YDD8GKW0DRD5H2MY1NRZ7","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG6YCG626JN4FCG8QK17CQCF","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG6YH19A9RDGRBMKFXJBE3NZ","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG6YH19FS605YQ51M9V48QRJ","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T07:57:48.202Z","ts":"2026-01-30T07:57:53.821Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}