An elderly man lived alone in Ireland.
It was time to plant his potato garden, but digging the soil was more work than he could manage on his own.
His only son, who would normally have helped him, was in prison for robbing a bank.
The old man wrote to his son, explaining that he wished he had someone to help dig the garden.
A few days later, he received a letter that read,
“For heaven’s sake, Dad, don’t dig up the garden! That’s where I buried the money!”
At four o’clock the next morning, a team of police officers arrived.
They searched the entire garden from one end to the other, digging up every bit of soil.
After hours of work, they found nothing.
Confused, the old man wrote back to his son and told him everything that had happened.
He also asked,
“What should I do now?”
His son replied,
“Go ahead and plant your potatoes, Dad. That’s the best help I could give you from here.”