Hi Chuck,
I found a walkthrough with a good explanation, which says this:
Once inside, look to the right and you'll find a lantern. This must be
the one Ben was going on about. Looks like he ran out of matches, though.
Luckily, you have some! First, examine it and locate the lever on top. Click
to turn it, thus activating the gas, then click on the lantern itself to
reposition it toward you. Go to your bottom inventory and click on the
matches. The box of matches will appear in the bottom right corner of the
screen. Click inside the box to remove a single match, then click on the side
of the box to strike it. Before the match burns out, click on the front of the
lantern to light it. Finally, click on the lantern one more time to pick it up.
Great! We've got a light source.