He had gone out three several times with Porter to rob the Lancaster mail, but his heart failing him, they returned without effecting their purpose. When Porter and Poteet proposed to rob the Reading mail, he would have had nothing to do with it, had he not feared that Porter would kill him if he refused. He then described the robbery, and the part each had taken in it, pretty much as we have related above. While the pillage was going on, he said, he was very anxious to get away, but Porter declared he would not hurry himself. He added that he was sorry he had ever seen Porter. He was steady at work in Philadelphia till he came and seduced him from his employment. He believed Porter would as lief kill a man as eat his breakfast. All this confession took place without any inducement on the part of Jeffers. This confession put the police of Baltimore on the look-out for Porter and Poteet. On the ninth of February, Mr. Stewart, a constable, met Porter in the street, and accosted him with a question concerning his health. He added that he had been looking for him all day, and must now take him with him. Porter asked him what he wanted, and on what authority he arrested him. The officer replied that he carried his authority in his face, and then asked if he knew Wilson or Poteet, or could tell where they might be found. He denied all knowledge of them, but followed Mr. Stewart quietly to his house. The officer searched him, and took from him a powder-flask and a pair of pistols. Porter asked if he meant to keep them, and the constable replied that he did. Porter very sternly said, “I hope I shall live to buy another pair for somebody.” He admitted before a magistrate that he knew Poteet. Mr. Stewart conducted Wilson to Philadelphia first, and Porter afterwards. After they got into the stage, Wilson said that he believed his case was hopeless, and that he would plead guilty to every charge brought against him. Mr. Stewart asked him if he were not afraid to undertake to rob a stage so full of passengers. “No,” replied the villain, “three good men could rob a dozen at any time.” Poteet was also arrested, and consented to save his own life by becoming state’s evidence. Porter’s demeanor after his arrest was marked by that cool courage that seems to have been the only favorable trait in his character. He spoke freely of his past life, without showing the least compunction, and said that if the passengers had resisted, he would not have scrupled to shed blood. On the 26th of April, 1830, James Porter and George Wilson were brought before the circuit court, and the grand jury presented six bills of indictment against them. They pleaded not guilty to all these indictments, and applied for separate trials, which was granted.