"Even if you were frightened, this may turn out well.

You will save some time, and I can take you to the very opening of the tunnel." "Well, it's only fair for this car to do me a good turn after the fright it gave me," said Fred.
Ivan drove swiftly when they started again.

On that deserted road, through a country that had been blasted by the approach of war, though as yet there had been no actual fighting, there was no reason for cautious driving.

And five minutes brought them to the parsonage, and so to a point as close to the opening of the tunnel as the car could go.
As the motor stopped Ivan swore in surprise.
"Look!" he said.
To the west there were a dozen darting searchlights winking back and forth across the sombre sky.

And below the searchlights were hundreds of tiny points of fire.
"They're advancing!" he cried.