noon
Beneath , at his routine , Banneker also set himself to think ; confused , bewildered , impossibly conjectural thoughts not unmingled with semi-official anxiety . Harboring a woman on company property , even though she were , in some sense , a charge of the company , might be open to misconceptions . He wished that the mysterious Io would declare herself . At noon she did . She declared herself ready for luncheon . There was about her a matter-of-fact acceptance of the situation as natural , even inevitable , which entranced Banneker when it did not appall him . After the meal was over , the girl seated herself on a low bench which Banneker had built with his own hands and the Right-and-Ready Tool Kit -LRB- 9 T 603 -RRB- , her knee between her clasped hands and an elfish expression on her face .