"I was getting hungry.

Let us get a bite of something before we go back to the hotel." The others were willing, and they entered a nearby restaurant and seated themselves at one of the tables.

As they did this, a person who had been following them stopped at the door to peer in after them.

The person was Dan Baxter.
"They are going to dine before retiring," he muttered to himself.
"The Old Nick take the luck! They have all the good times, while I have only the bad!" Dan Baxter had followed the boys from the hotel to the theater and had also waited around for them to come out.

He wanted to "square up" with them, but had no definite plan of action, and was trusting to luck for something to turn up in his favor.
He had drifted to the West for a double reason.