Finally after much persuasion, the manager agreed.
Chhagan brought the boy to Baba who at first liked him very much.
But after a few minutes, Baba disapprovingly noticed a small cut on the boy's leg, and directed Chhagan, "Take the boy to Meherabad, where Padri can treat his wound. Tell Padri to bring him to Panchgani once the wound is healed."
Chhagan was puzzled by Baba's instructions, as the boy's injury seemed minor. He wondered why Baba was making such a fuss, forcing him to take the boy all the way to Meherabad, when a local doctor could easily have treated the wound. But he did not say anything and, before he left, Baba further instructed him to be sure to contact Sadashiv Patil in Poona on the way and deliver a message, which Baba dictated.
Chhagan then left Panchgani with the boy, whose name was Yusuf. In Poona, as he was nearing Sadashiv's house, a Muslim woman who was filling her water vessels at a public well saw the boy and suddenly began calling out, "Yusuf, Yusuf!" She came running to the boy, embraced him and cried, "Yusuf, my son, where have you been? I can't believe it is really you! I have been longing for sight of you day and night for years! My son, have you forgotten your own mother?"
A crowd gathered and Chhagan could not understand what was happening. He grew frightened by the presence of so many people and forced his way to Sadashiv's house, where he described the situation to him. Sadashiv approached the woman and questioned her. He found out the woman's only son had disappeared from home five years before, and she and her husband's search had proved fruitless. The parents were overwrought with distress at their failure to locate their lost child. Grief-stricken, they had all but given up hope of ever seeing him again.
Chhagan then asked Sadashiv, "What am I to do now? Baba's order was to take the boy to Meherabad." Sadashiv sent a telegram to Baba explaining the situation. Baba's reply promptly came, instructing Chhagan to leave the boy with his parents and return to Panchgani. Only then did Chhagan understand why Baba had sent him on this journey. The message Baba had given Chhagan to convey to Sadashiv was nothing important, but Baba wished to reunite the child with his heartbroken parents.
A few months before, Baba had paid a brief, unscheduled visit to the Kolhapur High School, which he liked very much.