`He would, I daresay, and I told him to do as he liked.
I came away by myself, and only saw him just before we crossed the range.
He's big enough and old enough to take his own line.'

`But you know he thinks so much of you,' she groaned out,
`that he'd follow you to destruction. That will be the end of it,
depend upon it, Dick. I tell you so now; you've taken to bad ways;
you'll have his blood on your head yet.'

`Jim's old enough and big enough to take care of himself,' I said sulkily.
`If he likes to come my way I won't hinder him; I won't try to persuade him
one way or the other. Let him take his own line; I don't believe
in preaching and old women's talk. Let a man act and think for himself.'

`You'll break my heart and poor mother's, too,' said Aileen,
suddenly taking both my hands in hers. `What has she done but love us
ever since we were born, and what does she live for? You know she has
no pleasure of any kind, you know she's afraid every morning she wakes
that the police will get father for some of his cross doings;
and now you and Jim are going the same wild way, and what ever --
what ever will be the end of it?'

Here she let go my hands, and sobbed and cried as if she was a child again,
much as I remember her doing one day when my kangaroo dog killed
her favourite cat. And Aileen was a girl that didn't cry much generally,
and never about anything that happened to herself; it was always about
somebody else and their misfortunes. She was a quiet girl, too,
very determined, and not much given to talking about what she was going to do;
but when she made up her mind she was sure to stick to it. I used to think
she was more like father than any of us. She had his coloured hair and eyes,