They passed only a very few refugees, and very occasionally a farm cart going on its ordinary business.
There were no soldiers to be seen, and of the seething refugee traffic between Joigny and Montargis there was no sign at all.
The whole countryside seemed empty, dead.
Three miles from Angerville the corporal turned and spoke to Howard through the hatch.
'Getting near that next town now,' he said.
'We got to get some juice there, or we're done.'
The old man said: 'If you see anyone likely on the road I'll ask them where the depot is.'
'Okay.'
In a few minutes they came to a farm.
A car stood outside it, and a man was carrying sacks of grain or fodder from the car into the farm.
'Stop here,' the old man said, 'I'll ask that chap.'
They drew up by the roadside, immediately switching off the engine to save petrol.
'Only about a gallon left now,' said the driver.
'We run it bloody fine, an' no mistake.'
Howard got down and walked back to the farm.
The man, a grey-beard of about fifty without a collar, came out towards the car.
'We want petrol,' said Howard.
'There is, without doubt, a depot for military transport in Angerville?'
The man stared at him.
'There are Germans in Angerville.'
There was a momentary silence.
The old Englishman stared across the farmyard at the lean pig rooting on the midden, at the scraggy fowls scratching in the dust.
So it was closing in on him.
'How long have they been there?' he asked quietly.
'Since early morning.
They have come from the north.'
There was no more to be said about that.
'Have you petrol?
I will buy any that you have, at your own price.'
The peasant's eyes glowed.
'A hundred francs a litre.'
'How much have you got?'
The man looked at the gauge on the battered dashboard of his car.
'Seven litres.
Seven hundred francs.'
Less than a gallon and a half of petrol would not take the ten-ton Leyland very far.
Howard went back to the corporal.
'Not very good news, I'm afraid,' he said.
'The Germans are in Angerville.'
There was a pause.
'Bloody 'ell,' the corporal said at last.
He said it very quietly, as if he were suddenly tired.
'How many are there there?'
Howard called back the enquiry to the peasant.
'A regiment,' he said.
'I suppose he means about a thousand men.'
'Come down from the north, like,' said the driver.
There was nothing much more to be said.
The old man told them about the petrol.
'That's not much good,' the corporal said.