The captain seemed to be feeling the motion of the brig under his feet with attention.
'She rides a little heavily, does she not?' he said.
'Perhaps,' said Hornblower. He was not familiar with the Marie Galante, nor with ships at all, and he had no opinion on the subject, but he was not going to reveal his ignorance.
'Does she leak?' asked the captain.
'There is no water in her,' said Hornblower.
'Ah!' said the captain. 'But you would find none in the well. We are carrying a cargo of rice, you must remember.'
'Yes,' said Hornblower.
He found it very hard at that moment to remain outwardly unperturbed, as his mind grasped the implications of what was being said to him. Rice would absorb every drop of water taken in by the ship, so that no leak would be apparent on rounding the well — and yet every drop of water taken in would deprive her of that much buoyancy, all the same.
'One shot from your cursed frigate struck us in the hull,' said the captain. 'Of course you have investigated the damage?'
'Of course,' said Hornblower, lying bravely.