Zekes secret

[Jeff S]

Zeke, a secretive oldtimer, was the most successful fisherman in West Noplace County. He was a generous old fellow who would gladly give his catch to the poor, but he refused to tell anyone where he went. He always fished alone, and went to elaborate lengths to make sure he wasn't followed when he drove out of town.

 

For years and years, the local fish and game warden-- an expert fisherman himself-- begged and groveled and swore never to tell a soul until Zeke finally agreed to let him come along one morning.

 

They sneaked out of town undetected, drove for hours along roads the warden had never been on and finally hiked two miles through a forest to a lake the warden didn't know existed. Zeke had a john boat hidden in the underbrush. They rigged up their rods and rowed out onto the lake.

 

Zeke reached into his tackle box, removed a stick of dynamite, lit the fuse and tossed it overboard.

 

The surface of the water erupted -- Foom! -- and when the spray settled a couple of dozen very large fish lay stunned on the surface. Zeke took a landing net, handed one to the warden and said "Scoop 'em up and we'll do it again."

 

The warden went berserk

 

"Good Lord, Zeke!" he cried. "You can't do that! It's not even legal to have dynamite without a permit, let alone set it off! There's a dozen laws against what you did. You'll never get out of jail!"

 

Zeke didn't reply. He just took another stick of dynamite, bit off the fuse cord down to a few seconds' worth, lit it and tossed it into the warden's lap.

 

Then he spoke as follows:

 

"Did you come all the way out here to talk, or to fish?".

[Andy Macfarlane]

Good ol' Zeke.