Ernst had told him which road to follow, telling him that if he stuck to it he would not be likely to run into any troop movements.
"Don't see too much.

That is a good rule for one who is in a country at war," he had advised.

"If you know nothing, you cannot tell the enemy anything useful, and there will be less reason for our people to make trouble for you.

Your only real danger lies in being taken for a spy.
And if you are careful not to learn things, that will not be a very great one." Fred was not at all afraid, as a matter of fact, as he set out.

Before he had stepped across the mark that stood for the border he had been hugely depressed.