As time passed he began to feel foolish; by late lunch time he was irritable; and as the afternoon wore on he grew angry.

Why didn't "Bob" come, as she had promised?
He had lost a day, and days were precious.
Evening found him wandering about aimlessly, in a villainous mood, but stubbornly determined to see this thing through at whatever cost.

He had no wish to spend a night amid these surroundings, for respectable people shunned these oil-field camps after dark, and he knew himself to be conspicuous.

It would add a ridiculous climax to a trying day to be "high-jacked"-- to be frisked of his jewelry.
During the early dusk he returned to the lease, only to find even the greasy caretaker gone.

By this time Gray was decidedly uncomfortable, and, to add to his discomfort, he conceived the notion that he was being followed.