He had taken up the run with such high hopes; had so slaved to increase his herd, to make improvements on the head-station.

He had looked upon this as the nucleus of his fortune; the pivot on which his career as one of the Empire-builders would revolve....

And now....
Well, some clever speculator no doubt would buy it at a low price during the Slump, stock it with more cattle, work it up during a good season or two, and, when cattle stations boomed once more, sell it at an immense profit.

That was what he himself would have done had he been a speculator in similar conditions.

Even still, he could do it with a small amount of capital to supply a sop for the Bank....