"Something pleasant, I am sure," said Lola. "For you are the dearest uncle in the world."
"Thank you, little flatterer," he pinched her cheek playfully. "It is that you four cousins are all to return to Para for the winter."
"Oh, delightful," cried Lola.
"How nice!" Maria said, and the boys seemed equally pleased.
The afternoon air was clear and bracing, and the children were in high spirits as the party drove to the fazenda.
The road wound through a beautiful country, past vineyards, and tea and coffee plantations, for Sao Paulo is one of the most productive provinces of Brazil. As they passed row after row of small trees Lola said,
"What pretty, glossy leaves those trees have!"
"Those are coffee trees," said Martim. "They grow about twelve feet tall."
"But where are the brown berries," asked Maria. "Are they all picked?"