A long time ago on a far away glacier, an old sourdough prospector named Ed trudged across what was supposed to be a short cut to a nearby village. A storm blew snow like fairy dust across the darkening sky. Crevasses were increasing in size and numbers the farther he travelled. Visibility grew less and less until it became next to nothing. "Better wait for daylight," thought Ed as he made camp for the night.
"The Wigglers"
He slept fitfully, dreaming of a nice, hot steam bath at the Finnish baths in town. The storm raged around his small canvas tent. Ice quakes jarred him awake again and again with a strange hissing sound. New fractures zipped open with each hiss. The glacier was in the beginning stages of a surge! Ed just hoped the great ice beast wouldn't swallow him whole before morning! Ed clung tightly to the glacier and waited for light. Which would prove stronger, the mighty glacier or the determined man?
Joe Ice Worm
There are some forces of nature stronger than we can imagine but gold fever is also mighty hard to reckon with and Miner Ed had it bad.
Just a few days ago, he had struck the mother lode. Hidden in his poke were several gold nuggets the size of plums! He had burned a map into a piece of moose hide. The map showed the location of his strike. He had to get across the glacier with his map and gold to record his find in the village - before some varmint jumped the claim!
"The Wigglers"
Next morning he was jolted awake
by another ice quake.
He struck his tent, packed his gear
and set out. The wind still howled,
the ice still hissed.
Then Ed stumbled in
one crevasse he had missed.
A marginal crevasse
below a bridge of light snow
opened its caverns
and swallowed Ed whole.
Joe Ice Worm
Yes, a long time ago, Miner Ed fell into a crevasse. His pack, his tent, and his poke all fell with him. Imagine those nuggets of gold and the map to the mother lode, buried all these years - and Miner Ed all alone! But, you know, glaciers are always moving. Maybe Miner Ed and his gold will emerge some day.
