about noon
Gradually , however , he fell into a more and more hopeless state of stupor , and , finally , it was thought that he died . The weather was warm , and he was buried with indecent haste in one of the public cemeteries . His funeral took place on Thursday . On the Sunday following , the grounds of the cemetery were , as usual , much thronged with visiters , and about noon an intense excitement was created by the declaration of a peasant that , while sitting upon the grave of the officer , he had distinctly felt a commotion of the earth , as if occasioned by some one struggling beneath . At first little attention was paid to the man 's asseveration ; but his evident terror , and the dogged obstinacy with which he persisted in his story , had at length their natural effect upon the crowd . Spades were hurriedly procured , and the grave , which was shamefully shallow , was in a few minutes so far thrown open that the head of its occupant appeared . He was then seemingly dead ; but he sat nearly erect within his coffin , the lid of which , in his furious struggles , he had partially uplifted .