"What is it?" roared the Admiral.

"I don‘t know, sir," called back the lookout. "It looks like a big log barge or scow of some kind, Sir. She‘s anchored near shore, Sir, and she ‘s rolling about and kicking up some big waves in a mighty strange manner, Sir."

The Admiral ordered the fleet to proceed in the direction the lookout had given, and he seized his spyglass to take a look for himself

"Why, it’s a baby!" he shouted in surprise when the fleet had come nearer. "And sound asleep, too!" he muttered to himself a moment or two later. His mouth dropped open in amazement, for such a baby surely had never been seen by man before. He almost refused to believe his own eyes.

But though Paul was sleeping rather quietly —for him — he still was rocking his cradle about a little. As the ships drew quite near, the Admiral could feel beneath him the force of the waves, which the child was stirring up as he moved about in his slumber.

He suddenly began to get quite angry again. The idea! Sending him traipsing off over the sea and making him miss the Governor’s ball just to find a sleeping youngster! "Asleep, is he?" he growled. "I’ll soon wake him up, all right!" and he called his chief gunner to him. "Fire a broadside over his head," he ordered. "We’ll see if that won‘t make him open his eyes."

The gunners took their places, trained their pieces, and at the word, the thirty-six cannon of the frigate‘s broadside roared out. But Paul was in a very sound slumber, indeed, and the tremendous crash of sound did not so much as make him flutter an eyelid.

"Give him a broadside from all the fleet!" screeched the Admiral, purple with rage at the very thought of such an absurdity. So the guns of all the fleet bellowed and thundered, sending their solid shot whistling close over the floating cradle, and frightening the people on shore so badly that they all ran into the woods to hide, thinking that an enemy was attacking them.