What is the message of the lantern in Chapter 11 of "Where the Red Fern Grows"?

In Chapter Eleven, we come to see that the hounds are Billy's vehicle for learning and demonstrating his growing sense of responsibility, loyalty, and resourcefulness. The phenomenon of the clanging lantern handle suggests a miracle, and after Billy gets home, the lantern handle never falls again. The clang occurred immediately after he prayed behind the sycamore tree, and in this scene Rawls reminds the reader of the higher power to which Billy turns in his moments of greatest need. Note, Billy returns to the sycamore to offer a prayer of thanks..... the prayer and its answer (the clanging lantern) all start with a sycamore tree.