Some time ago two young men—a mason and a joiner— were building a barn at a farm. At noon they sat down together to have their mid-day meal, with their backs to the wall of the gable end of the building, which Dick, the mason, had been erecting.
James, the joiner, had some little time before been truly converted, and was greatly rejoicing in the Lord Jesus, whom he now knew as his own personal Saviour. Almost as soon as they were seated Dick began to speak of the performances of a running dog, famous at that time in the district, but such talk did not interest James. The Lord Jesus had graciously and wonderfully saved him, and he desired to talk about Him.
“Ah!” said Dick, “thou art always talking of Him, and if thou canna’ talk about anything else, I won’t sit with thee.”
“Well, Dick,” replied James, striking the wall behind him, “if I did not talk to thee about Him, these very bricks would speak.”
“Then I won’t talk with thee,” and so saying, Dick moved away to the other side of the building. As he did so the Scripture came into James’ mind, “Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them” (Eph. 5:1111And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. (Ephesians 5:11)). So the meal was finished in separation between them, or as James said, “We were out of fellowship.” Mealtime over, work was resumed.
When they had commenced in the early morning a strong wind was blowing, and this had steadily increased in violence, so that on resumption of work after dinner a stiff gale was blowing.
Shortly after James happened to look in Dick’s direction, and he noticed that the wall the latter was building was decidedly out of plumb, and leaning towards Dick. With difficulty owing to the noise of the wind he made Dick understand the wall was out of plumb, and that he was in danger of its falling on him. This Dick resented, and at once took up his plumb line to show James that he was wrong, but before he could apply it he saw the wall coming bodily towards him, and he rushed to the ladder to escape the danger he was in, but before he could get clear the whole wall from the ground level was brought down by the wind, burying Dick beneath it.
Fortunately for Dick the wall fell on the side on which he had fixed a temporary scaffolding, and this, and one or two loads of bricks also on that side, saved him from the full force of the falling wall. James hastened to his aid, and quickly made a hole through the wall just where Dick’s head was. Immediately the latter saw him he cried out, “Oh! James, do pray for me.”
“What shall I pray for, Dick?”
“Oh! do ask the Lord to forgive me my sins.”
However, James thought the right thing to do at the moment was to get him out of his dangerous position, and with the help of a man from the farmhouse, who, with the mistress, had heard the noise of the falling wall, and had come to see what had happened, he speedily made the hole large enough to get Dick through, and on examining him they were pleased to find that apparently he was not much worse for his alarming experience, but it was deemed advisable that he should see a doctor, and a vehicle was at once procured.
When seated in it, James, looking at him, said, “Dick, didst hear the bricks speak?”
“Ah! James, but I never thought they would speak like that.”