Chapter 12

At Fort Wallace Custer finds a letter written by a soldier at the request of Custer's illiterate cook, telling him that Libbie and Captain Weir looked to be a little too intimate when she was at Hays. Enraged, Custer takes a small party and rushes to Fort Harker, ignoring the deaths of two troopers in an Indian attack en route. At Harker, Custer wakes up Colonel Smith and asks for permission to go on by rail to Fort Riley, where Libbie is. Smith agrees, and sends his adjutant, Captain Weir, to escort Custer to the train. At the station, Custer confronts Weir, who denies any improprieties. At Fort Riley, Custer braces his cook, who says she has never actually seen Libbie and Weir in flagrante. When Custer asks Libbie directly whether Weir has ever touched her, Libbie acts insulted, and backs Custer down with an implied promise of pleasure as she turns down her coverlet. Custer surrenders. Libbie never answers his question.