The Adventure of the Speckled Band that of Dr Roylott. Holmes and Watson arrange to spend the night in Helen's room. In darkness they wait; suddenly, a slight metallic noise and a dim light through the ventilator prompt Holmes to action. Quickly lighting a candle, he discovers on the bell cord the "speckled band"—a venomous snake. He strikes the snake with a stick, driving it back through the ventilator. Agitated, it attacks Roylott, who had been waiting for it to return after killing Helen. Holmes identifies the snake as a "swamp adder" and reveals to Watson the motive: the late wife's will had provided an annual
The Renegade (short story) The Renegade (short story) "The Renegade" (Fr. "Le renégat") is a short story written in 1957. It is the second short story published in the volume "Exile and the Kingdom" by Albert Camus. "The Renegade" is one of the most obscure and confusing of the short stories published in "Exile and the Kingdom". It is presumed to be an allegory. The story begins with the narrator, who we are told has somehow lost his tongue, waiting in the desert with a rifle. Much of what the narrator says at the beginning of the story is not explained until much later.