eight o’clock
Natacha could do nothing but cry , `` My God , my God , my God ! '' Feodor held onto his stomach , still crying , `` I 'm burning , I 'm burning ! '' The scene was frightfully tragic and funny at the same time . To add to the burlesque , the general 's watch in his pocket struck eight o'clock . Feodor Feodorovitch stood up in a final supreme effort . `` Oh , it is horrible ! '' Matrena Petrovna showed a red , almost violet face as she came back ; she distorted it , she choked , her mouth twitched , but she brought something , a little packet that she waved , and from which , trembling frightenedly , she shook a powder into the first two empty glasses , which were on her side of the table and were those she and the general had drained .