Where the shadows were darkest and the bushes thickest he paused panting.
He heard his pursuers calling to one another, and he also heard the excited voices of people in the ravine.

The civilians had been aroused by the shots so close by and he thought the confusion would help him.

He stood in the deep shadow, his breath gradually growing easier, and then he started down the ravine, coming to a little path that led along the side of the slope.

He noticed a dark opening, and as the voices of pursuers were now coming nearer, he popped into it, trusting to blind luck.
Dick had thought it was a mere wash-out or deep recess, but at the third step his foot struck upon a carpet and he saw ahead a dim light.

He paused, amazed, and then he remembered that he had heard about the civilians digging caves for shelter from the shells and bombs.