It gave them the advantage.

Finally the car stopped, and he groaned.

It had stopped exactly opposite his hiding-place! He had hoped that they would not be able to tell just where he had left the road, but in a moment the explanation came to him.
He had trampled down the hedge in getting through, of course, and had left a trail that a child might have followed.
Then the headlight was switched off, and for a moment he lost the car altogether.

His ears, rather than his eyes, told him that someone was coming.

He heard the breaking down of the hedge, and then footsteps moving slowly, but coming closer.