We will do this before planting time, of course. When is potato planting time?

Your loving son,
Leopold.

“Oh, my dear ones!”  moaned Rudolph Leopold Nickolos Lazare.  “They have no ox to pull the plow, and now they have a broken handle with which to push the plow.  We need help … indeed we do need help!”

The prisoner charcoaled a quick note to his son.  It read:

Dear Leopold,

Let us keep our fears to ourselves; share your courage with the others.  We shall find a way to plant those potatoes when the time is right.

Your loving father,
Rudolph Leopold Nickolos Lazare.

As the days dawned and the suns set, the prisoner, Lazare, felt the warmth of spring creeping into the dungeon.  He waited for the pigeon every day.

“Maybe the pigeon is lost,” he told the mice who squeaked back at him.

Just then he heard a cooing at the barred window.  There was the pigeon!  And, yes, there was a message attached to his leg.

The man hurried forward, unfolded the note, and read eagerly.  The note read:

Dear Papa,

We have sharpened our hoes and spades in readiness for harvest of the potato crop.  But before we have a crop, we must plant it.  When shall we plant the potatoes?

Your loving son,
Nickolos.