five o'clock
He would `` spoil the whole biznuss '' , they said , and they praised Herman for the faithful accuracy of his costume . They also insisted that the garment in question was much too large for Verman , anyway , having been so recently worn by Herman and turned over to Verman with insufficient alteration , and they expressed surprise that `` anybody with any sense '' should make such a point of clinging to a misfit . Herman sided against his brother in this controversy , perhaps because a certain loneliness , of which he was censcious , might be assuaged by the company of another trouserless person -- or it may be that his motive was more sombre . Possibly he remembered that Verman 's trousers were his own former property and might fit him in case the promise for five o'clock turned out badly . At all events , Verman finally yielded under great pressure , and consented to appear in the proper costume of the multitude of beaters it now became his duty to personify . Shouting , the boys dispersed to begin the preparation of their jungle scene . Sam and Penrod went for branches and the dead tree , while Herman and Verman carried the panther in his cage to the loft , where the first thing that Verman did was to hang his trousers on a nail in a conspicuous and accessible spot near the doorway .