Kit (sticking his head around the tree). Honestly?
Giant and Bear. Honestly!
Giant. Come out, all of you. I want to talk with you. (The children come forward, the girls more timidly than the boys. The girls scream when the Bear offers his paw and hugs them gently. The boys, too, are hugged, to their amusement. Giant kisses the children.) How do you happen to be in the middle of the wood, all by yourselves, at this time of day?
Joscelin. We’re lost. We have been trying to find the robbers’ cave. Say, are you a real giant?
Giant. Of course, my boy. Do I appear like a midget? I am not only a giant, but the last of the giants. My uncle was the famous Two-Headed Giant, and my fourteenth cousin was slain by Jack the Giant-Killer.
Kit. Is he alive?
Giant. Very much so, I can assure you. Do you know, he’s my only enemy? To tell the truth, I’m mortally afraid of him. He’s a terrible boy. He’s sure death on giants, and will never believe that I’m not as bad as my relatives. I’m afraid he’ll get the best of me some fine day.
Gillian. Please, sir, how can we get home? I want to go, awfully bad!
Giant. Well, now, little girl, I’ll see that you get home safely, never fear. But, dear me, you are the first children that I have met in these deep woods. I generally go about at night to keep out of the way of Jack, the Giant-Killer, but my wife wanted me to shoot a few eagles for supper.
Joscelin. Can you tell us where the robbers’ cave is?