Behramji returned to Gangaram's house and brought back the freshly baked bread, which all ate. They drank water by holding it in the hollow of their palms.
Gangaram brought a kerosene lantern for them to use, and the Master blessed him, saying, "May there always be light in your house."
In the evening, their baggage having arrived, Baba and Gustadji slept on the flagstone platform under the neem tree and the other men spread out their bedding rolls on the ground nearby and tried to sleep. It was a restless night, however; dust was swirling in the hot winds of May. When they were spreading their bedding, a snake was seen and Padri killed it.
As the watchman explained, during the First World War a few army units had been stationed there, and it was these abandoned structures which Khansaheb had bought at an auction after the military had discontinued using the property. Adjacent to the railroad tracks was a small, well-constructed stone building that had been the army's post office. Other than this, the rest of the buildings were in a dilapidated state. On the east side of the road was a large, bungalow-shaped building constructed in 1916, which had served as the officer's mess quarters. It was constructed of mud (clay)-bricks and contained two big halls, a bathroom, and verandahs on both sides. It had typical shahabad stone flooring and a Mangalore tiled roof.
The next day, 5 May 1923, the Post Office building was swept and cleaned, and that night Baba and the mandali stayed inside it. Baba decided they should move into the larger Mess Quarters across the road, so they began cleaning and repairing it. It was filled with heavy slabs of flooring, old utensils and other discarded items of junk. Baba himself helped in the work which lasted from morning to evening.
On Sunday the 6th of May, Ghani, Ramjoo, Sadashiv, Munshiji and Vajifdar arrived in Arangaon. These five men soon became aware that the daily routine in this deserted place was quite the reverse of what it had been at the Manzil in Bombay. Each man had to draw his own water from the well and had to wash his own clothes; then for the whole day the hard physical labor of cleaning and restoring the Mess Quarters continued.
Baba informed the five new arrivals: "The life here is unpleasant and rough. All of you will have to labor like coolies and do farming or seek employment in Ahmednagar, which would mean cycling six miles both ways every day. It would be better for you five to find jobs in either Bombay, Poona, Lonavla or elsewhere. Even though you live somewhere else away from me, if you carry out my orders, my connection with you will remain intact. Remember, I am everywhere; I am always with you."