five o'clock
But words failed him until the last day of the Hearing . On this last day , Sara and Pen attended the hearing , as guests of Fleckenstein , who had sent his great touring car for them . Jim nodded to them across the room but made no attempt to speak to them . It was nearing five o'clock when Fleckenstein closed his testimony . `` The Reclamation Service , '' he said , `` is like every other department of the government . It is a refuge for the incompetent whose one skill is in grafting . The cost of this dam has jumped over the estimates by hundreds of thousands .