Lou, rebuffed at a second attempt to enter seminary in Baltimore, faced another dreary year of teaching at St. Matthews. When he learned of a clerkship at the Commissary General of Prisoners, a bureau of the War Department, paying twice what he currently earned, he pulled out all the stops. He secured letters of recommendation from Father White at St. Matthews and some of his fellow roomers, one of whom was an adjutant general with the Military District of Washington.
By mid-January, the new clerk was hard at work. With a spring in his step, he strode to the market place south of the capitol to share his good fortune with John. Afterwards, they strolled back to Lou’s place of work, the War Department offices west of the White House.
Lou hesitated, for fear that John would question his mo
