As Ben lies ill in hospital, the friends and family who visit him cause him to recall events out of his past: these events woven together make up the story of Cattleman.

He is a typical kind of outback Australian in his generosity and his contempt for authority and affectation. Even his cattle duffing seems to be more an endearing failing than a serious crime. His life history, covering pioneering, marriage and war-time service is a prototype of his generation’s ideal Australian.