144 THE LIFE OF RICHARD JEFFERIES 



but take some when it was ripe. A blue-painted barrel 

 churn stood by the door ; young Aaron turned it in the 

 morning, while the finches called in the plum-trees, but 

 now and then not all the strength of his sturdy shoulders 

 nor patient hours of turning could " fetch " the butter, 

 for a witch had been busy. 



' Sometimes, on entering the dairy in the familiar 

 country way, you might find Cicely, now almost come to 

 womanhood, at the cheese-tub. As she bent over it, her 

 rounded arms, bare nearly to the shoulder, were laved 

 in the white milk. It must have been from the dairy 

 that Poppsea learned to bathe in milk, for Cicely's arms 

 shone white and smooth, with the gleam of a perfect skin. 

 But Mrs. Luckett would never let her touch the salt, 

 which will ruin the hands. Cicely, however, who would 

 do something, turned the cheeses in the cheese-room 

 alone. Taking one corner of the clean cloth in her teeth, 

 in a second, by some dexterous sleight of hand, the 

 heavy cheese was over, though ponderous enough to puzzle 

 many a man, especially as it had to come over gently, 

 that the shape might not be injured. 



' She did it without the least perceptible exertion. At 

 the moment of the turn, when the weight must have been 

 felt, there was no knot of muscle visible on her arm. That 

 is the difference ; for 



" When Ajax strives some rock's vast weight to throw," 



the muscles of the man's limb knot themselves and stand 

 out in bold relief. The smooth contour of Cicely's arm 

 never varied. Mrs. Luckett, talking about cheese as we 

 watched Cicely one morning, said people's taste had 

 much altered ; for she understood they were now fond of 

 a foreign sort that was full of holes. The old saying was 

 that bread should be full of holes, cheese should have 

 none. Just then Hilary entered, and completed the 

 triad by adding that ale should make you see double. 



' So he called for the brown jug, and he and I had a 

 glass. On my side of the jug stood a sportsman in 



