The thieves next compelled the true men to alight, one by one. Porter searched them, and tied their hands with their kerchiefs. As fast as he tied them he turned them over to Poteet, who kept them quiet with his pistol. One of the passengers, after being tied, asked the robbers for a quid of tobacco, which was put into his mouth by Poteet. Another was very reluctant to part with his watch, which he said had been long in his family, and at his urgent entreaty Poteet restored it. From another, who was a physician, Poteet took the seal of a corporation and a case of lancets, but put them back into the doctor’s pockets on being told what they were. The gentleman then asked Porter for half a dollar to pay for his breakfast, and the robber complied. Another of the passengers asked Porter to restore his papers. “O,” said the ruffian, “I dare say all this business will be published, and then I shall know where to direct the papers. I will send you a letter.” Mr. Clarke was the last but one who came out of the coach. As Porter was plundering him he said, that if the other passengers had followed his advice they would not have been robbed. “Well done!” replied the robber. “I like to see a man of spunk.” After being tied, Mr. Clarke walked up to Poteet, in order to be able to recognise him if they should meet again. The rogue bade him stand off. “I hope,” said Mr. Clarke, “you are not afraid of a small man, and he bound too.” “No, sir,” said Poteet, “but I don’t want to be better acquainted with you.” “I hope,” rejoined Mr. Clarke, “that we shall have a longer acquaintance than this yet.” “I hope not, sir,” said Poteet. On Mr. Clarke’s again observing that the passengers would have done better to resist, Porter remarked that if they had, they would have seen the consequences. After the passengers had all been examined, the robbers took the baggage out of the coach and from before and behind it. They then tried to open the boot in which the mail bags were contained, but finding some difficulty, they compelled the driver to do it. Mr. Clarke now remarked that another stage would soon be along, and this intelligence quickened their proceedings. One of them busied himself in rifling the mails and trunks, while the other two put the passengers into the coach again without untying them. They tied the driver again and lifted him into his seat, after which they tied the leading horses to the fence by the road side. This done, the robbers went off, so softly that neither the driver nor any of the passengers were aware of their departure.