noon
As each man 's name was called , he stepped forward , showed his ticket , and was allowed to draw a slip from the box . If it proved to be a blank , he went away ; if he was lucky , he had his ticket _ viséd _ on the spot . Such a proceeding took the greater part of the day ; but the excitement remained intense . No one thought of leaving even for the noon meal . Yank drew passage on the first steamer . Talbot , Johnny , and I drew blanks . We walked down to the shore to talk over the situation .