noon
And after a time his words became like music , a lullaby , and she would slip back into untroubled sleep , her hand unconsciously resting on his . Then he would gently lift it and set it beside her , and smiling , rise to tell the others that she would be fine . * Kalus would have remained beside her door all day in silent watch , but they would not let him . Though all at the noon meal of the partly gathered colony were asked to let the newcomers be , by evening their curiosity could no longer be disciplined . He was asked to join them for supper , the first of the year to be eaten outdoors , and it was all but impossible to refuse . So as the remaining men and women returned from their various labors -- there were fourteen in all -- Kalus took his place at the far end of the long table , not to distinguish himself , but because he did not wish to sit closely huddled among creatures he did not know . And though by all appearances they seemed the best that modern man had to offer -LRB- in fact they were -RRB- , he could not help remembering the tales of human treachery that Sylviana had read to him ; and half fearfully , half angrily , he kept waiting for some sign of it to surface .