By the time that he had crawled over the parapet and had reached the first fence of tangled barbed wire be found a French soldier, prostrate on the ground, waiting, and holding open a gate that had been ingeniously cut through the mantrap.
Then the soldier crawled on to the next line of wire defence, repeating the service, as also at a third line.
The last wire had now been passed.

Still lying nearly flat, Captain Prescott raised his head, staring ahead into the nearly complete blackness of the night.

He was in No Man's Land!.