Even the robbers remain quiet while it lasts, and are so entranced that they fail to hear the steps of a stranger, stealing near the hut armed with sword and spear.

Seeing White Aster in the brigands' power, this stranger bursts open the door and pounces upon the robbers, several of whom he slays after a desperate conflict.

One of their number, however, manages to escape, and it is only when the fight is over that White Aster--who has covered her face with her hands--discovers that her rescuer is the kind-hearted recluse.

He now informs her that, deeming it unsafe for her to thread the wilderness alone, he had soon followed her, intending to tell her he is her long-lost brother! Then he explains how, after being banished from home, he entered the service of a learned man, with whom he began to study, and that, perceiving at last the wickedness of his ways, he made up his mind to reform.

But, although he immediately hastened home to beg his parents' forgiveness, he arrived there only to find his native town in ruins.