{"id":"01KG8AKWFZTN1AAPV7H45SP6G7","cid":"bafkreiduyw7toit5teplxjj3fnvhnijg7greq2sm75vvbgrtt3fvbw2ncm","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":8483,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:14.842Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 4","source_file":"01KG89J1GP71YDJ60P8SRH97MF","start_line":8416,"text":"enemies of all strange young men.\r\n\r\nI soon turned the conversation toward America, a theme which I knew\r\nwould be interesting, and upon which I could be fluent and agreeable. I\r\nstrove to talk in Addisonian English, and ere long could see very\r\nplainly that my polished phrases were making a surprising impression,\r\nthough that miserable shooting-jacket of mine was a perpetual drawback\r\nto my claims to gentility.\r\n\r\nSpite of all my blandishments, however, the old lady stood her post\r\nlike a sentry; and to my inexpressible chagrin, kept the three charmers\r\nin the background, though the old man frequently called upon them to\r\nadvance. This fine specimen of an old Englishman seemed to be quite as\r\nfree from ungenerous suspicions as his vinegary spouse was full of\r\nthem. But I still lingered, snatching furtive glances at the young\r\nladies, and vehemently talking to the old man about Illinois, and the\r\nriver Ohio, and the fine farms in the Genesee country, where, in\r\nharvest time, the laborers went into the wheat fields a thousand\r\nstrong.\r\n\r\nStick to it, Wellingborough, thought I; don’t give the old lady time to\r\nthink; stick to it, my boy, and an invitation to tea will reward you.\r\nAt last it came, and the old lady abated her frowns.\r\n\r\nIt was the most delightful of meals; the three charmers sat all on one\r\nside, and I opposite, between the old man and his wife. The middle\r\ncharmer poured out the souchong, and handed me the buttered muffins;\r\nand such buttered muffins never were spread on the other side of the\r\nAtlantic. The butter had an aromatic flavor; by Jove, it was perfectly\r\ndelicious.\r\n\r\nAnd there they sat—the charmers, I mean—eating these buttered muffins\r\nin plain sight. I wished I was a buttered muffin myself. Every minute\r\nthey grew handsomer and handsomer; and I could not help thinking what a\r\nfine thing it would be to carry home a beautiful English wife! how my\r\nfriends would stare! a lady from England!\r\n\r\nI might have been mistaken; but certainly I thought that Matilda, the\r\none who had handed me the milk, sometimes looked rather benevolently in\r\nthe direction where I sat. She certainly _did_ look at my jacket; and I\r\nam constrained to think at my face. Could it be possible she had fallen\r\nin love at first sight? Oh, rapture! But oh, misery! that was out of\r\nthe question; for what a looking suitor was Wellingborough?\r\n\r\nAt length, the old lady glanced toward the door, and made some\r\nobservations about its being yet a long walk to town. She handed me the\r\nbuttered muffins, too, as if performing a final act of hospitality; and\r\nin other fidgety ways vaguely hinted her desire that I should decamp.\r\n\r\nSlowly I rose, and murmured my thanks, and bowed, and tried to be off;\r\nbut as quickly I turned, and bowed, and thanked, and lingered again and\r\nagain. Oh, charmers! oh, Peris! thought I, must I go? Yes,\r\nWellingborough, you must; so I made one desperate congee, and darted\r\nthrough the door.\r\n\r\nI have never seen them since: no, nor heard of them; but to this day I\r\nlive a bachelor on account of those ravishing charmers.\r\n\r\nAs the long twilight was waning deeper and deeper into the night, I\r\nentered the town; and, plodding my solitary way to the same old docks,\r\nI passed through the gates, and scrambled my way among tarry smells,\r\nacross the tiers of ships between the quay and the Highlander. My only\r\nresource was my bunk; in I turned, and, wearied with my long stroll,\r\nwas soon fast asleep, dreaming of red cheeks and roses.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 4"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJS9YFR12YJKJHFN968XA","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1GP71YDJ60P8SRH97MF","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AKVQ8A3D9P4EGJKARENCA","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:18.943Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:32.469Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}