As mentioned, at night, Baba would rest in Buasaheb's old room on the south side of the Water Tank on the hill. It was a small room built between the two large halls of the water reservoir. On 13 December, Baba began spending his nights in the underground crypt on the hill again. The same day, Aga Ali's father came from Bombay, looking for his son who had run away from home again, although he had not yet arrived at Meherabad. The father gave into the mandali's persuasions and agreed to allow his son to stay with Baba. The next day the "hero" appeared at the ashram, exhausted from his latest escape.
From the second week of December, a few of the other boys who had been taken home also slipped away from their parents and returned to the school ashram.
Shankarnath, one of the five men who had been kept in the Sadhak Ashram, had withstood the severest tests and impressed everybody with his perseverance, devotion, and obedience to Baba under the most trying circumstances. But on 16 December, he expressed his desire to go to Benares. After staying aloof in the Sadhak Ashram for a long time, he now wished to leave Meherabad, and Baba permitted it. Shankarnath had recently recovered from a serious illness. The mandali observed that Shankarnath seemed spiritually advanced, out of touch with the world. For instance, when questioned, he would reply only in disjointed sentences.
The following day, Baba began cleaning the boys' latrines, allowing only Jalbhai to help in this work. Regarding this lowly task, Baba explained to the mandali:
Sadgurus are in the highest state, yet they work like bhangis [toilet-sweepers] to abolish the bad sanskaras of sinners. Here I have to do this outwardly filthy work of cleaning the toilets and urinals. You will never know how sweet and wonderful this work is to me! How will you ever be able to understand my way of working?
That same day, Meherjee's father arrived at Meherabad unexpectedly at three in the afternoon with four Parsi priests. He had heard a rumor in his hometown of Navsari that his son had shaved his head and was moving about in a long robe like a sadhu. But when he saw Meherjee, he realized the stories were untrue. Nevertheless, he told Baba, "Meherjee is my eldest son [of eight children] and I have hopes of his shouldering the full responsibility of our entire family. I therefore wish to take him home."