During the night the tug would rush at a merchant vessel, and bore a hole in her with its powerful ram.

At the same time the schooner which could not possibly have excited any suspicion, would run alongside and her horde of cutthroats would pour on to the doomed vessel's deck and massacre the helpless crew, after which they would hurriedly transfer that part of the cargo that was worth taking to the _Ebba_.

Thus it happened that ship after ship was added to the long list of those that never reached port and were classed as having gone down with all on board.
For a year after the odious comedy in the bay of Charleston Ker Karraje operated in the Atlantic, and his wealth increased to enormous proportions.

The merchandise for which he had no use was disposed of in distant markets in exchange for gold and silver.

But what was sadly needed was a place where the profits could be safely hidden pending the time when they were to be finally divided.
Chance came to their aid.