But death in its more sordid and terrible aspects was a thing with which I had been unacquainted till now.

As I say, while I appreciated the power of the terrific denunciation that swept out of Wolf Larsen's mouth, I was inexpressibly shocked.

The scorching torrent was enough to wither the face of the corpse.

I should not have been surprised if the wet black beard had frizzled and curled and flared up in smoke and flame.

But the dead man was unconcerned.