Sam and Cleary found a good
lookout on a dismantled bastion, and saw the whole parade. As the
leading vessel came near the first fleet the latter saluted with its
guns. Suddenly the lights on the advancing ship were extinguished, and
a strong flash-light was throw from above upon the forward deck. There
in bold relief stood a single figure, brilliantly illuminated by the
light. Cleary and Sam turned their field-glasses upon it.
"By Jove! it's the Emperor," cried Cleary. "He's got on his admiral's
uniform, and now he's passing his own fleet that Balderdash brought
with him."
They looked at the striking scene for some minutes, and the crowds on
the wharves and shores murmured with surprise.
"Bless my soul! he has disappeared," said Cleary again.
Sure enough, he had suddenly passed out of sight, and as suddenly the
flash-light went out and the lights on the masts reappeared. In another
moment these lights were extinguished, and the flash-light revealed a
form standing in the same place in a theatrical attitude with raised
sword and uplifted face.
"I believe it's he again," said Cleary. "He must have a trap-door. He's
got on another uniform. I think it's a Frank admiral's uniform. There
go the Frank guns. He's passing their fleet."
"Yes, it is a Frank naval uniform," said a foreign officer near them,
as he scrutinized the deck with his glasses.
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