The Falcon was called a cargo packet; but David Flett was a man of
singular enterprise, and styled himself a general merchant. He had,
indeed, become quite an important trader in his own way by
speculating in quantities of seemingly worthless goods, and
reserving them until time gave him a chance of disposing of them at
a profit.
If a farmer in Ronaldsay told him he was badly in want of a plough
or a pony the skipper would speedily find a farmer in another
island who had a plough or a pony to sell, and by thus bringing
buyer and seller together he made himself a friend to both. Nothing
was out of Flett's way. He had a genius for commerce. He would buy
an old anchor or a piece of sailcloth from someone in want of ready
money, and keep them in the hold of his schooner till he could find
a customer in some skipper whose anchor had been slipped or whose
sails were in need of repair. I believe he made it his business to
find out exactly what every person in Orkney was most in need of,
and straightway to set about getting it.
A Hoy crofter once said to his master (whether in jest or earnest I
know not):
"Eh, sir, but Flett's a wonderfu' man. I thought I had met wi' a
sore misfortune, twa months syne, when I lost both my cow and my
wife over the cliffs; but I went to Davie, and he has gotten me a
far better cow and a far bonnier wife.
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