The bustle had caused the local candle lighter, who had been going street to street relighting and replacing the candles in the street lamps, to drop his wick. The large pole resembled a shepherd's crook with a simple yet resilient torch in its grasp, and a hook on the end to help it open the lamps and light the candles within. This crook fell and the hook gripped the hood of Handy's cloak, yanking it back and bringing the flash of the torch a hair's width of Handy's face.