Towards the end of 1880 Captain Mayne Reid revised "The Free Lances," in
fact re-writing almost every line. The book had been originally written
while he was editing the _Onward Magazine_ in New York, but was not then
published. Mr Bonner, the proprietor of the _New York Ledger_, paid a
large sum for running it through his paper.
This revising, in addition to other literary work, was rather hard upon
Mayne Reid. He writes:
"I thought I would have broken down, but I seem to get better with the
hard work, only I am in great fear my poor wife will give way. She is
in very delicate health, and looking quite ill. That acts sadly against
me in my work, for when she is not cheerful I don't write nearly so
well."
His wife was his amanuensis. Captain Mayne Reid regularly contributed a
Christmas tale to the _Penny Illustrated Paper_ and other journals
during these latter days.
"The Free Lances" was published in three volumes, 1881, by Remington.
The _Saturday Review_, July, 1881, says: "Captain Mayne Reid seems to be
as lively a writer as he ever was, and if `The Free Lances' causes any
less thrill of excitement than was wont to be aroused by `The Scalp
Hunters,' the fault must be due to a change in the reader rather than in
the author."
"The Free Lances" is now published in one volume.
The last novel from Captain Mayne Reid's pen was "No Quarter," an
historical tale of the Parliamentary wars. Most of the scenes are laid
in Herefordshire and the Forest of Dean, all of which Mayne Reid
personally visited before writing the story. The principal characters
and scenes of the book are historically correct.
He also wrote for the _Sporting and Dramatic News_ articles on "Our Home
Natural History," and letters to the _New York Tribune_ on the "Rural
Life of England."
For Mr Ingram's paper, the _Boys' Illustrated News_, of which Captain
Mayne Reid was co-editor on its first appearance, he wrote "The Lost
Mountain" and "The Chase of Leviathan," also natural history notes and
short stories.
"The Naturalist in Siluria," a popular book on natural history, was also
written in Herefordshire.
Mr W.H. Bates, author of "The Naturalist on the Amazon," in a letter to
Mrs Reid, says:
"Throughout our mutual acquaintance Captain Mayne Reid always impressed
me as a man deeply interested in all natural history lore, and the
subject was one of our most constant topics of conversation. If
circumstances in early life had turned his attention in that direction
he would have made a reputation as a naturalist."
The last book for boys written by Captain Mayne Reid was "The Land of
Fire," a short story of the South Seas; but ere its publication the hand
that penned it was cold in death.
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Captain Mayne Reid possessed great powers of oratory. He would speak
for hours on a subject with untiring energy. The language from his
tongue flowed facile as that from his pen, his favourite theme being
politics. He would often astound his hearers by the eloquence he
expended upon his beloved theory--the superiority of Republican over
Monarchial institutions. Occasionally he came across a Tory equally
red-hot, and then the "fur would fly." But Captain Reid, by his great
charm of manner, rarely gave offence, and was, as a rule, listened to
with good nature on both sides. Often while in the height of a very hot
discussion he would suddenly change the theme, dropping at once from the
sublime to the ridiculous with such ease that it was difficult for his
audience to tell if he had really been in earnest. Had Mayne Reid
chosen, he would have made a name as an orator. The few occasions on
which he occupied the platform amply proved this.
Though cherishing the strongest Republican principles, Mayne Reid was by
no means a leveller, but in many things the very opposite to what the
expression of his opinions would lead one to suppose. He was an enigma,
which only one in the close contact of everyday life with him could
solve.
His name rarely figured at literary gatherings, but he sometimes
attended the Geographical or Zoological Societies' meetings; in fact, he
avoided rather than sought literary society.
Before commencing a new book, Captain Mayne Reid would thoroughly study
his subject and work out the plot. He would make rough drafts at first,
which were afterwards thrown away.
He had no skill with the pencil, but would make curious figures like
hieroglyphics in his manuscript, intended to represent objects
described, but bearing to all but himself a merely imaginary
resemblance.
His mode of writing was peculiar. He rarely sat at a table, but
reclined on a couch, arrayed in dressing-gown and slippers, with a
portable desk and fur robe thrown across his knees even in hot weather,
and a cigar between his lips--which was constantly going out and being
re-lighted--while the floor all around him was strewed with matches.
Latterly, after he became a cripple, the dressing-gown was discarded for
a large Norfolk jacket, made from his own sheep's wool; and he would sit
and write at the window in a large arm-chair with an improvised table in
front of him resting on his knees, upon which at night he would have a
couple of candles placed, the inevitable cigar, matches, and whisky
toddy being the accessories.
He had a singular habit of reading in bed, with newspapers, manuscript,
and a lighted candle on his pillow. At least a score or more of times
he has been found in the morning with the paper burnt to black tinder
all round him, but neither himself nor the bed-clothes in the slightest
singed.
The Mexican hero was never an idle man; and after his sword was sheathed
in its scabbard, his pen never rested. His brain was as active as ever
till within a fortnight of his death.
On October 22nd, 1883, Mayne Reid had fought his last battle.
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An irregular block of white marble, on which is carved a sword and pen
crossing each other, and these words from "The Scalp Hunters:--"
This is the weed prairie,
It is misnamed,
It is the Garden of God,
mark his last resting-place, in Kensal Green Cemetery, London.