“Hooray!” shouted the giant, capering up and down till the whole block shook again. “Hooray! A boy who can see me! A boy who can see me! What will father say now?”
Rosa sighed in her sleep.
“Hush! Hush, good giant!” cried Luigi anxiously. “You will wake the others.”
Benevaldo stood still again. “Do they believe in giants too?” he asked eagerly.
“Well,—Rosa almost does,” said Luigi loyally.
“But if she doesn’t quite believe,” explained the giant, “she can’t see me or hear me any more than the rest of them.”
Luigi was puzzled. “But can’t everybody see you?” he asked.
The giant shook his great head solemnly. “People don’t seem to believe in us any more,” he said. “I’ve walked all the way from Giantland to-day, and passed thousands and thousands of them on the way, and you’re the first one who has seen me at all. And I’ll tell you what, little boy,” he went on, “I’m so happy,—so grateful to you, that I’ll give you anything you wish for, if I have to squeeze through all these walls to do it.”
Luigi’s eyes shone. He sat up in bed. “Oh, giant,” he cried, “giant, would you take me for a little walk out in the world?”