{"id":"01KG8AM8EP5C8XXX9AH9TQ83Q4","cid":"bafkreigb2kimobxrjfdutszl75nd5he3zw6gd2wowrywrjvi77d2qiwxoy","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":9900,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:26.985Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 19","source_file":"01KG89J1FFTGRE9J93Z3K29NGY","start_line":9824,"text":"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 is,\r\nnot to arrange for the demolition of my chimney, nor to have any\r\nparticular 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 apparent\r\nalacrity he commenced the survey; throwing open the cupboards on the\r\nfirst floor, and peering into the closets on the second; measuring one\r\nwithin, and then comparing that measurement with the measurement\r\nwithout. Removing the fire-boards, he would gaze up the flues. But no\r\nsign 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 downstairs, and out of\r\ndoors, he measured the entire ground area; then compared the sum-total\r\nof all the areas of all the rooms on the second floor with the ground\r\narea; then, returning to me in no small excitement, announced that there\r\nwas a 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 ciphering\r\non 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 one\r\nhundred 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 one\r\nhundred and forty-four square feet for the legitimate chimney. My\r\nposition 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 has\r\nquite set my mind at rest. And no doubt you, too, Mr. Scribe, must feel\r\nmuch relieved. Sir,’ I added, ‘you have made three visits to the\r\nchimney. With a business man, time is money. Here are fifty dollars, Mr.\r\nScribe. Nay, take it. You have earned it. Your opinion is worth it. And\r\nby the way’--as he modestly received the money--‘have you any objections\r\nto give me a--a--little certificate--something, say, like a steamboat\r\ncertificate, certifying that you, a competent surveyor, have surveyed my\r\nchimney, and found no reason to believe any unsoundness; in short,\r\nany--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 19"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJWC2XZP9WWPK8DAFVAR9","peer_type":"segment","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1FFTGRE9J93Z3K29NGY","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AM8ER5EQ4T69D8HRPCE0R","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AM8ERKRPZAHJC3Y90YM89","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:31.190Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:44.433Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}