Posted by Peter Ceresole on March 06, 2012 at 11:26:05 user PeterC.
In Reply to: Re: What should we assume? posted by Dave Thewlis on March 06, 2012 at 05:35:43:
The Holly Howe signallers were using torches (flashlights).
After the first exchange, they did. But before that:
'There it was, that answering light, flashing out in the farm far below them in the valley' It's pretty clear, reading the whole passage, that that light in Holly Howe was something more than a torch- 'There was light in that upper window once more, one spark on top of another, far away below them..... And as they watched, the upper light shone out again.' After that, there's the torch with the worn out battery.
It's that window shining out which sounds like what we would expect from an electric room light, but now seems to be confirmed to be a larger oil lamp, like the one in the room below. Not candles, anyway.
AR knew what he meant, but his interest was in the action, the way the Ds handled it in the freezing barn with the slippery steps. I reckon he didn't think that the Holly Howe lighting was either unusual or interesting for his potential readers.