midnight
Upon this the men rushed toward the bunk , Max with the light , which he held to the man 's face . `` No , he 's not dead , '' he cried , as the yellow flame wavered for a moment at the seaman 's motionless mouth . But hardly had the words escaped , when , to the silent horror of all , two threads of greenish fire , like a forked tongue , darted out between the lips ; and in a moment , the cadaverous face was crawled over by a swarm of wormlike flames . The lamp dropped from the hand of Max , and went out ; while covered all over with spires and sparkles of flame , that faintly crackled in the silence , the uncovered parts of the body burned before us , precisely like phosphorescent shark in a midnight sea . The eyes were open and fixed ; the mouth was curled like a scroll , and every lean feature firm as in life ; while the whole face , now wound in curls of soft blue flame , wore an aspect of grim defiance , and eternal death . Prometheus , blasted by fire on the rock . One arm , its red shirt-sleeve rolled up , exposed the man 's name , tattooed in vermilion , near the hollow of the middle joint ; and as if there was something peculiar in the painted flesh , every vibrating letter burned so white , that you might read the flaming name in the flickering ground of blue .