But when storm and rain gave way to the smooth waters and balmy breezes,
the Sea-wolves were certain of their prey, as the whole length and breadth
of the tideless sea was sure to be filled with the ships of the detested
Christians trafficking in every direction. In the ethics of the Moslem all
ships which sailed under the banner of the Cross, no matter to what nation
they belonged, were fair game, even supposing that her insignia were the
Crescent--well, supposing the spot to be sufficiently remote, dead men tell
no tales, and the pirates were to be trusted to see to it that none
escaped.

But, however this might have been, it is quite certain that no qualms of
conscience troubled Uruj concerning those others: Genoese, Neapolitans,
Catalans, Andalusians, French, or the dwellers of the Balearic Islands,
were all fish sent by a bountiful Providence to be enclosed in his net, and
he seized upon them without distinction. When in the full tide of his
success there was but one thing which preoccupied the mind of the corsair,
which was to find a ready market for his spoils and a convenient place in
which to rid himself of an embarrassing number of captives. This, however,
did not present an insuperable difficulty, as we have already seen in the
case of Curtogali, and a similar arrangement was carried out by Uruj
Barbarossa and his brother.

Uruj now established himself at the island of Jerba, on the east coast of
Tunis, which formed an admirable base from which to "work" the
Mediterranean from the piratical point of view. Jerba had originally been
conquered and occupied by the Spaniards in 1431, but the occupation had
been allowed to lapse, and the island was lying derelict when the
Barbarossas made it their headquarters. Here Uruj was joined by his younger
brother Khizr, destined to become so much the more famous of the two; he