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 Fat of the Land (short story) the US magazine "This Week" on 2 November 1958, with illustrations by James Williamson. This story was included as the fourth story in the first American edition of the collection "A Few Quick Ones", and the first story featured in the English edition of that collection. "The Fat of the Land" was also included in the 1982 short story collection, "Tales from the Drones Club". The Fat of the Land (short story) "The Fat of the Land" is a short story by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. The story is part of the Drones Club canon. First published in