She wrote a la diable, starting with some central thesis to set forth or some problem to investigate, but with no predetermined plot or plan of action.
Porter wrote a Life of Commodore David Porter (1875), gossipy Incidents and Anecdotes of the Civil War (1885), a none too accurate History of the Navy during the War of the Rebellion (1887), two novels, Allan Dare and Robert le Diable (1885; dramatized, 1887) and Harry Marline (1886), and a short "Romance of Gettysburg," published in The Criterion in 1903.
Le Sage makes him the principal character in his novel Le Diable boiteux.
His name was, however, unknown to the general public till he was arrested on the 15th of October 1894 on a charge of selling military secrets to Germany, condemned, publicly degraded (January 4, 1895), and transported (March Io) to the Ile du Diable, French Guiana.
La Mare au diable (1846) is a clear-cut gem, perfect as a work of Greek art.