- description
- # Introduction of Mr. Scribe and Survey
## Overview
This is a segment extracted from the short story [I and My Chimney](arke:01KG8AJ72QDX8N8STJ3550X2NW) by Herman Melville. The segment, labeled "Introduction of Mr. Scribe and Survey," spans lines 1019 to 1074 of the source file [i_and_my_chimney.txt](arke:01KG89J1H4TA19251AXAPE3ZWC). It describes the narrator's interaction with Mr. Scribe, a surveyor, who is tasked with verifying the existence of a secret closet within the chimney.
## Context
The segment is part of a larger narrative contained within the [Melville Complete Works](arke:01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW) collection. Preceding this segment is [Initial Description of the Chimney](arke:01KG8AJNY3NNVV43S6V89TR3N4), which introduces the chimney's unusual construction with haphazardly placed cupboards and closets. Following this segment is [Narrator's Tactics and Resolution](arke:01KG8AJNY39WQ9QJPHMCTBVARJ), where the narrator, suspecting a plot, decides to influence Mr. Scribe's decision.
## Contents
The segment details Mr. Scribe's survey of the chimney, including his measurements and observations. The narrator questions Mr. Scribe's calculations, pointing out overlooked factors such as wall thickness, fireplaces, and the chimney's own dimensions. The narrator then challenges Mr. Scribe to pinpoint the exact location of the supposed secret closet, leading to a tense exchange and setting the stage for the narrator's subsequent actions.
- description_generated_at
- 2026-01-30T20:48:04.472Z
- description_model
- gemini-2.5-flash-lite
- description_title
- Introduction of Mr. Scribe and Survey
- end_line
- 1074
- extracted_at
- 2026-01-30T20:47:36.358Z
- extracted_by
- structure-extraction-lambda
- start_line
- 1019
- text
- “Mr. Scribe,” said I when, the next day, with an eager aspect, that
individual again came, “my object in sending for you this morning is,
not to arrange for the demolition of my chimney, nor to have any
particular conversation about it, but simply to allow you every
reasonable facility for verifying, if you can, the conjecture
communicated in your note.”
Though in secret not a little crestfallen, it may be, by my phlegmatic
reception, so different from what he had looked for; with much apparent
alacrity he commenced the survey; throwing open the cupboards on the
first floor, and peering into the closets on the second; measuring one
within, and then comparing that measurement with the measurement
without. Removing the fireboards, he would gaze up the flues. But no
sign of the hidden work yet.
Now, on the second floor the rooms were the most rambling conceivable.
They, as it were, dovetailed into each other. They were of all shapes;
not one mathematically square room among them all—a peculiarity which
by the master-mason had not been unobserved. With a significant, not to
say portentous expression, he took a circuit of the chimney, measuring
the area of each room around it; then going down stairs, and out of
doors, he measured the entire ground area; then compared the sum total
of all the areas of all the rooms on the second floor with the ground
area; then, returning to me in no small excitement, announced that
there was a difference of no less than two hundred and odd square
feet—room enough, in all conscience, for a secret closet.
“But, Mr. Scribe,” said I, stroking my chin, “have you allowed for the
walls, both main and sectional? They take up some space, you know.”
“Ah, I had forgotten that,” tapping his forehead; “but,” still
ciphering on his paper, “that will not make up the deficiency.”
“But, Mr. Scribe, have you allowed for the recesses of so many
fireplaces on a floor, and for the fire-walls, and the flues; in short,
Mr. Scribe, have you allowed for the legitimate chimney itself—some one
hundred and forty-four square feet or thereabouts, Mr. Scribe?”
“How unaccountable. That slipped my mind, too.”
“Did it, indeed, Mr. Scribe?”
He faltered a little, and burst forth with, “But we must now allow one
hundred and forty-four square feet for the legitimate chimney. My
position is, that within those undue limits the secret closet is
contained.”
I eyed him in silence a moment; then spoke:
“Your survey is concluded, Mr. Scribe; be so good now as to lay your
finger upon the exact part of the chimney wall where you believe this
secret closet to be; or would a witch-hazel wand assist you, Mr.
Scribe?”
“No, Sir, but a crowbar would,” he, with temper, rejoined.
- title
- Introduction of Mr. Scribe and Survey