Question

"She opened the fingers of one hand slightly and in the palm of her hand was a single, slender object." What did the old woman have?

Answer 1

I’m not sure if I should even answer but isn’t it “a single, slender object.”

Answer 2

A match

Step-by-step explanation:

Here the old woman takes out kitchen matches to light the fire herself. She doesn’t want the firemen to destroy her house or her books. Out of pride, she asks the firemen to stop counting as they would then unleash the hound and other equipment to put her house on fire. These lines show how the old woman loved books and knowledge more than her life.