"Oh, yes. I had forgotten him. His request is granted. I was thinking of something else. Send up the band of the regiment to my house. I have to entertain two strangers to-day. They come from Rio with letters from the Emperor himself."
The governor went away, and Jack was at once taken to a stream, where, standing up to his waist in water, he washed the dirt in a sieve as it was brought to him in a barrow, from the mouth of the mine, by another convict.
The bank of the stream on one side was several feet above the water.
Jack had not been at work long before he heard voices.
Looking up, he saw the governor and two gentlemen.
What was his surprise to see his friends, Harvey and Mr. Mole?
They had evidently lost no time in following him to the Brazils.
He was about to make an exclamation, when Mr. Mole's foot slipped and he fell into the water.
Splashing about like a huge fish, he seized Jack and pulled him down.
They rolled over and over.