"It was there for only a few seconds and then faded away."
Baily again asked, "Did you keep on gazing at the old man or did you look away?"
"I had no reason to turn my eyes. I kept looking at him until he disappeared."
Baily persisted to satisfy his curiosity, "But suppose, if you had gone through that door and the form again appeared, would you have been able to stand it?"
"Of course, why not?" replied Merwan. "It was not an evil spirit. He was a pious spirit which I could see by his appearance. He was not there to harm us, so what was there to fear? I told you before that my father explained that such spirits do no harm, but on the contrary, they protect. My father told me it is therefore necessary to meet such spirits to gain their favor."
"To what end?" asked Baily.
"To benefit spiritually," Merwan replied.
This convinced Baily of the courageousness of his friend, and he expressed his respect. Afterward he requested, "Merwan, please do not tell our friends that I was scared — I will lose face."
Merwan replied, "All right, as long as you are straightforward with me, I won't tell anyone."
The clock of the nearby Lal Devi (Red Synagogue) struck two as the boys parted company; they had spent about three hours wandering in the night. Although this was Baily's first and last visit to the tower at night, he later found out that Merwan had been a frequent visitor there before this incident.
As if drawn by some strange force, Merwan would often go to the Tower of Silence from about ten until midnight. After the experience with Baily, he continued to go there alone to sit for several hours. It is said that he saw many other "good" and "pious" spirits, thus gathering experiences similar to his father's. Merwan had always been drawn to solitary places and derived such profound peace from these hours alone that, at times, he would joyously sing to himself.
During his school vacations, Merwan would usually go to Lonavla to stay with his maternal uncle and aunt, Faredoon Masa and Dowla Masi, and his brother Jamshed. Merwan's uncle was a guileless man — innocent as a child — and Merwan loved him dearly. One night, while Merwan was visiting, Faredoon Masa got up in the middle of the night to urinate.