"I followed the brook up.
It's pretty bad in some places." "There's only two of us," said Roscoe, "and you've no rifle.

Safety first." "I suppose there's a lot of places they could hide along the brook; the brush is pretty thick all the way up," Tom added.
Roscoe whistled softly in indecision.

"I like the open better," said he.
"I guess so," Tom agreed, "when there's only two of us." "There's three of us, though," said Roscoe, "and _Tommy_ here likes the open better.

I'd toss up a coin only with these blamed French coins you can't tell which is heads and which is tails." Roscoe was right about the Germans having withdrawn beyond the road north of the woods.

Whether he was right about its being safer to go around the edge of the forest remained to be determined.
This wood, in which they had passed the day, extended north of the village (see map) and thinned out upon the eastern side so that one following the eastern edge would emerge from the wood a little east of the main settlement.