Summary

In post-war American occupied Germany, Reed, Stewart, and Rudofsky are called to testify before the inspector general of the Third Army, Clarence C. Cook. Cook will decide if the seizure of the horses was lawful. Rudofsky swears that the horses' pedigrees are accurate and all three men assert that the animals did not belong to Czechoslovakia. As such, Cook decides that the horses "could be claimed as spoils of war" (243). The remaining horses now officially belong to the U.S. Army.

The chief of the American army's remount service is concerned that these horses, if not kept under U.S. jurisdiction, could contribute to the military potential of Russia and other European countries which are not likely to mechanize. He is also fed misinformation which makes it impossible for him to determine the horses' original provenance and ownership. Therefore...