I am re-playing this masterpiece of a game, thanks in part to the installer found at

http://www.squirtthecat.com/index.html

and thanks partly to that masterpiece of a Walkthrough by Tom Sr.

That being said, I am stuck! I am at the fortress, and dealing with the Monster in the tower. I have hung the fish, and the Monster is there, attempting to grab the fish. I have loaded the cannon with powder and cannonball, and aimed the cannon. Now I am supposed to take the lighter out of inventory, open the lighter and flick the thumbwheel in order to light the fuse on the cannon. Trouble is, the lighter won't open. Does anybody remember, is there some secret to lighting the lighter???

Did you try and just click the unopened lighter on the fuse ?

Do you maybe have a choice on how you handle the lighter - .... can you "use" it rather than "open" it ??

Cathy - good idea, but that doesn't do it.

Mad - no choices. You either have an inventory item as your cursor, or not. I've tried right-clicking, double-clicking, using it 'outside the box' whatever. The lighter doesn't want to open.

I have a saved game right at that point, if someone wants to experiment.

Check this part from Linda Shaw's wt.

Thanks; I already saw that too. She says

"BU from the scope view, and click on your lighter in your inventory (a small inset picture of your lighter will be there), then light the lighter."

I am not getting the inset. So - I restarted the game, and picked up the lighter (which is the first item you get) and clicked on it then. Now the inset appears, in which you can open and light it.

I will continue to replay and hope it works when it's needed. Thanks again.

I went back to some old notes on this game. Here is what I found.

Click the telescope to the right and get a close up of the monster trying to get the fish. Light your lighter then the cannons fuse.

I hope this helps you, its been a very long time since I played this game. So can only go by the cryptic notes I left behind to myself.

This games was one of my all time favorites back in the early days of gaming.

Thanks, Cherie.

Okay folks; I have the answer. Remember how there is a row of blocks along the bottom of the screen: first, the lighthouse (menu) then three inventory items, then the inventory bag which will open to reveal the rest of your items.

If the lighter has been 'bumped' into the bag, and not visible as one of the three first items, it won't open as the inset box. So - you have to move the lighter back into one of the first three 'primary' boxes to allow it to work correctly. The same idea applies to the compass, the book of information you have collected, the gizmo that lowers the ladder in the tower, and the whistle that calls the plane.

I don't recall having to do that in the original game; but there's no accountin' for memory after about ten years.

Love this game !!

Thanks to all for the help.