"What can I do for you, my good man?" asked the pleasant voice of the superintendent as an old man with gray hair came into the office.
"I saw your ad in the paper for a fireman and thought as how I would like the job. I've been a fireman for a good many years. I guess I can make her go," answered the old man.
The superintendent scratched his head and looked at the applicant thoughtfully. "I do need a fireman," he said, "but I wonder if the work wouldn't be too hard for you. You are not as young as you used to be, you know." He looked at the old man a moment without speaking, then said, "Why did you lose your last place?"
"Well," answered the other, "I reckon as how the boss didn't like to hear me talk. He said I was always preachin', and he was tired of it, and I could go some other place with my prattle."
"If that is all the trouble, I think you and I will get on pretty well, for I am a good listener. You may try anyway, for I do need a man very much. My old one leaves tomorrow, so you may come in the morning and get the run of things. And the next day you may start for yourself."
The superintendent turned to the next man waiting to see him, and the old fireman went away. He was glad to obtain work, for he didn't relish breaking into his savings until it should be really necessary. He made up his mind to do his best and to try to please his new employer. The next day he was in the shop ready to learn what was expected of him, and on the morrow he started regular work. He was a happy man and whistled an old-fashioned tune as he went about his task. Now and then he would sing a line or two and then go on whistling as though his week's pay depended upon it.
The superintendent was very observant and wanted to get the best out of his men. He strolled from one group to another to see that all were doing their best. Now and then he paused at the engine room door and looked in for a moment.
"Work, for the night is coming. When man's work is done," sang the fireman all unconscious of an audience.
"Well, that sounds strange in a place like this," thought the boss. "I hope he doesn't forget to work while he is singing about it."
Soon he was back at the door of the engine room again. He listened, but not hearing anything, he went in and looked around, half expecting to see the new workman lying down to rest and the fire running low. What he did find was a full head of steam, and behind a box was the old man on his knees, with his face upturned as if he were speaking to someone above him. The superintendent was moved to tears, and he withdrew so quietly that the fireman was not aware of his presence.
"I guess he will do if he doesn't carry his praying so far that the fire goes down," said the superintendent to himself as he wiped his eyes and walked on. "There ought to be someone that could pray in a place like this."
Each time the superintendent came along, he found everything as it should be, but he did not stop to speak to his workman until late afternoon. Then he strolled in and took a seat on the same box that had been used to conceal the fireman while he prayed in the morning.
"Well, how does it go--what did you say I was to call you?" he asked, as he crossed his legs.
"Jim," said the man. "Call me Jim. That's what they always call me.
"Well, Jim, how do you like your job?" asked the superintendent.
"Well, it's first rate. I reckon you had all the fire you wanted today."
"You have done well," smiled the other. "What do you find to think about all day alone? Do you get lonesome?"
"Nope, I never get lonesome when I'm firin'. There's so much to think about," said the old man. "I look at the coal and think how black my sins were; then I think how the blood of Jesus made them all white. I get so happy that I whistle and sing, and my heart feels so light. Then I put in more coal, and I think of the coal mine it was dug out of, and remember the pit from which I was dug. And I get so happy then that I do not know that the coal is heavy. Then I think how cold the furnace would be without the fire in it, and I remember that my heart would be just as cold as iron if the love of God was not burnin' in my heart." He paused in his talk long enough to add more coal to the fire. The superintendent waited for him to go on.
"Yes, Sir, I'd be just as cold as iron without the love of God in my heart. I think about that, and I feel so good again that I must whistle some more. Sometimes when I look into the flames in the furnace I think of the place I was headed for when God found me, and I shut up the door quick for I don't like to think on that, but I have to sometimes. Then I think about the poor sinners that are goin' there as fast as they can make it, and then I just load the fire up with lots of coal, and I hurry in behind something, drop on my knees, and ask God to stop them some way. I think of the poor men in the factory that don't deserve God's blessin's because they use God's name so bad, and I think as how they will suffer, and I pray and pray for God to have mercy on 'em."
Again he stopped to add coal. This time there was a sadness about his face, and he threw in the fuel as if seeing past the flames to the eternal fires. He closed the door, and, forgetting all about the man he was talking to a moment before, he hurried behind the box, and dropping to his knees he began asking God to reach after the factory men as He had done for him. The employer stayed for a moment and then quietly left the room.
All the rest of the day he could not get away from the words of the fireman, and he was glad when it was time to close up his work for the night and go home. But that did not bring the desired relief. At his boarding place the words of the old fireman kept coming back to him, and along with them thoughts of home and the early training he had received. His had been a Christian home, and the life of the last few years looked black and replusive compared with the days gone by. He wondered what his father would think of his boy if he could hear his talk sometimes. He thought of the family altar and felt sure he was remembered there daily. Then, for the first time in years, he wanted the Bible that he knew was at the bottom of his trunk. How it had bothered him to have it there, but his mother had packed it in the trunk when he left home. He did not like to destroy it, so it had been placed at the bottom and covered with other things. Now he was glad to get it. At first he turned the leaves idly, but a red mark arrested his attention.
"Why had Mother marked that verse?" he thought. It was the 44th chapter of Isaiah and the 22nd verse, and read, "I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins return unto me, for I have redeemed thee." How he wished a very cloud could blot out his sins, for they looked so very black. He turned over the pages until another mark caught his eye.
"Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near." Oh, how he wished the Lord was near to him that he might call upon Him, but he was so wicked. The thought was hardly finished when he saw in the next verse the word he had just used. "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." What more could he ask? He knelt there by his bed with those precious words before him and poured out his heart to his Maker.
The next morning, as soon as the whistle had blown, the superintendent made his way to the engine room. There was Jim with a roaring fire. He wondered at the early call. Could it be that the superintendent was going to fire him? He knew he was getting pretty old, but he was doing his best. He was sure he had given his best the day before. The superintendent came toward him, holding out his hand. Jim was puzzled.
"Jim," said the superintendent, "I want to shake hands with you. Did you know that a part of your prayer yesterday was answered already?" He grasped the hand of the fireman and shook it.
"Well, said Jim, "the Bible says as how our prayers are answered sometimes before they are prayed. What do you mean?"
"Just this, Jim. I am the happiest man in this factory this morning. I went home from here last night a sinner, as black as that coal, just as you said. Today I am a saved man. Isn't it wonderful?" Then he told the happy fireman of his conversion.
Jim stayed to hear as long as he could stand it, then crowding the furnace full of coal that he might be free, he went in behind the box once more and poured out such a prayer of praise and thanksgiving as only a Christian can pray. Once more the superintendent was forgotten while he talked with his Friend. The superintendent hurried on with his work, saying to himself as he went, "Well, I thought I was the happiest man in the factory, but I guess there is another just as happy."
--The Prairie Overcomer
