{"id":"01KG6YH1XC6PCC1AZ0Q896Y6RW","cid":"bafkreifiw2qqkwc7wath7thjzmp3pdimk4on2z7uhxagj4dk5vtgjgsvfy","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":3266,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T07:57:45.581Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 16","source_file":"01KG6YDD8GKW0DRD5H2MY1NRZ7","start_line":3190,"text":"reduction must be methodically graduated from bottom to top.\r\n\r\n\"Mr. Scribe,\" said I when, the next day, with an eager aspect, that\r\nindividual again came, \"my object in sending for you this morning\r\nis, not to arrange for the demolition of my chimney, nor to have\r\nany particular conversation about it, but simply to allow you every\r\nreasonable facility for verifying, if you can, the conjecture\r\ncommunicated in your note.\"\r\n\r\nThough in secret not a little crestfallen, it may be, by my phlegmatic\r\nreception, so different from what he had looked for; with much\r\napparent alacrity he commenced the survey; throwing open the cupboards\r\non the first floor, and peering into the closets on the second;\r\nmeasuring one within, and then comparing that measurement with the\r\nmeasurement without. Removing the fireboards, he would gaze up the\r\nflues. But no sign of the hidden work yet.\r\n\r\nNow, on the second floor the rooms were the most rambling conceivable.\r\nThey, as it were, dovetailed into each other. They were of all shapes;\r\nnot one mathematically square room among them all--a peculiarity which\r\nby the master-mason had not been unobserved. With a significant, not to\r\nsay portentous expression, he took a circuit of the chimney, measuring\r\nthe area of each room around it; then going down stairs, and out of\r\ndoors, he measured the entire ground area; then compared the sum total\r\nof the areas of all the rooms on the second floor with the ground area;\r\nthen, returning to me in no small excitement, announced that there was\r\na difference of no less than two hundred and odd square feet--room\r\nenough, in all conscience, for a secret closet.\r\n\r\n\"But, Mr. Scribe,\" said I, stroking my chin, \"have you allowed for the\r\nwalls, both main and sectional? They take up some space, you know.\"\r\n\r\n\"Ah, I had forgotten that,\" tapping his forehead; \"but,\" still\r\nciphering on his paper, \"that will not make up the deficiency.\"\r\n\r\n\"But, Mr. Scribe, have you allowed for the recesses of so many\r\nfireplaces on a floor, and for the fire-walls, and the flues; in short,\r\nMr. Scribe, have you allowed for the legitimate chimney itself--some\r\none hundred and forty-four square feet or thereabouts, Mr. Scribe?\"\r\n\r\n\"How unaccountable. That slipped my mind, too.\"\r\n\r\n\"Did it, indeed, Mr. Scribe?\"\r\n\r\nHe faltered a little, and burst forth with, \"But we must now allow\r\none hundred and forty-four square feet for the legitimate chimney.\r\nMy position is, that within those undue limits the secret closet is\r\ncontained.\"\r\n\r\nI eyed him in silence a moment; then spoke:\r\n\r\n\"Your survey is concluded, Mr. Scribe; be so good now as to lay your\r\nfinger upon the exact part of the chimney wall where you believe this\r\nsecret closet to be; or would a witch-hazel wand assist you, Mr.\r\nScribe?\"\r\n\r\n\"No, sir, but a crowbar would,\" he, with temper, rejoined.\r\n\r\nHere, now, thought I to myself, the cat leaps out of the bag. I looked\r\nat him with a calm glance, under which he seemed somewhat uneasy. More\r\nthan ever now I suspected a plot. I remembered what my wife had said\r\nabout abiding by the decision of Mr. Scribe. In a bland way, I resolved\r\nto buy up the decision of Mr. Scribe.\r\n\r\n\"Sir,\" said I, \"really, I am much obliged to you for this survey. It\r\nhas quite set my mind at rest. And no doubt you, too, Mr. Scribe, must\r\nfeel much relieved. Sir,\" I added, \"you have made three visits to the\r\nchimney. With a business man, time is money. Here are fifty dollars,\r\nMr. Scribe. Nay, take it. You have earned it. Your opinion is worth\r\nit. And by the way,\"--as he modestly received the money--\"have you any\r\nobjections to give me a--a--little certificate--something, say, like a\r\nsteamboat certificate, certifying that you, a competent surveyor, have\r\nsurveyed my chimney, and found no reason to believe any unsoundness; in\r\nshort, any--any secret closet in it. Would you be so kind, Mr. Scribe?\"\r\n\r\n\"But, but, sir,\" stammered he with honest hesitation.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 16"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG6YGBGPFPH23W72RDZNFT0X","peer_type":"segment","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG6YDD8GKW0DRD5H2MY1NRZ7","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG6YCG626JN4FCG8QK17CQCF","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG6YH1XCAXFZ0T9JX7PPWBA9","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG6YH1XCVVJ91SNYZ1GK1XFQ","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T07:57:48.844Z","ts":"2026-01-30T07:57:54.423Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}