The following letter from Mr Piatt was addressed to Dr Halstead, city of Mexico:
“Mac-o-Chee, December 1847.
“Dr Halstead,
“Dear Sir,
“I address you with pain and regret on account of the late intelligence brought us by the papers of the severe wound received by Lieutenant Reid and his death. Whilst we look with pride upon the many gallant deeds he performed, it but poorly remunerates us for so severe a loss. And we should receive with sad but infinite pleasure any further account of him whilst wounded. It is with regret that we call upon you to give us this sad intelligence, as it may inconvenience you, but the deep interest we felt for Mr Reid has tempted us to trouble you with these inquiries, and remain,
“Yours respectfully,
“A.L. Piatt.”
The Piatts were originally a French family, and the elder Mr Piatt, the writer of the letter, was a great friend of Mayne Reid.
It is not given to every man to read obituary notices of himself, but this happened to Mayne Reid more than once. So marvellous, indeed, were his recoveries from the brink of death, that he came to be regarded by his friends as bearing a “charmed life.”
Two or three weeks after the announcement of his death, the New York Herald published a contradiction of the report: