Old man Griggs loves his vegetable garden, but this year there’ll be no fresh veggies. He’s getting too old and too feeble to dig up that patch of hard ground.

Feeling somewhat sorry for himself, old man Griggs sits down after supper and writes his son a letter:

"Dear Arlee, I got nothing but bad news this time. There will be no garden this year. You know how I love my fresh vegetables. But the dirt is too hard and I’m just too old and sore to do any more digging. Sorry, but that’s the way things are with you gone. Love, Dad."

A couple days later the son opens his dad’s letter. He immediately scribbles out a reply to his father:

"Dear Dad, for gosh sakes, don’t dig up the old garden! That’s where I buried my guns. If the law ever finds out, they’ll pin at least two murder raps on me. I’ll be a goner. I’ll get the needle, for sure. Your son, Arlee."

Did I mention that Arlee is in the state prison serving 10 years for aggravated assault?

A couple days after Arlee sends the letter to his dad, a dozen cops show up at old man Grigg’s farm. They are armed with a search warrant and have a whole mess of picks and shovels. The police spend nearly a half day digging up the old garden, but they find nothing. Just before sundown the cops gather up their tools and clear out with no explanation. Old man Griggs is confused. But a couple of days later, another letter from his son clears up the mystery:

"Dear Dad, hope you didn’t mind the interruption but from what I hear through the grapevine, things should be looking pretty good out there in the old garden. Given my residence here at the state pen, that’s the best I could do to help you get your garden started. Go ahead and plant whenever you feel up to it. Love, your son, Arlee."