five minutes to 10 o'clock
Chester moved forward toward the lines . And , as he moved , the shells which had been bursting in that direction , ceased . The feel of the far-off hand of Captain O'Neill and of his superiors -- the men who had planned this desperate venture -- thrilled through him . Until five minutes to 10 o'clock he would be cared for , Captain O'Neill had promised . The French artillery , opening a path through its fire , would throw its shield around him . Simultaneously , it would be opening another path to Hal , advancing off to the right . Where all the Germans , who held that ground , burrowed below in dugouts or crept and ran through the deep defiles of communication trenches , Hal and he could go at will over the ground and so far as the shells from the French batteries were concerned , be perfectly safe .