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 Swimmer (short story) The Swimmer (short story) "The Swimmer", a short story by American author John Cheever, was originally published in "The New Yorker" on July 18, 1964, and then in the 1964 short story collection "The Brigadier and the Golf Widow". It was later collected in "The Stories of John Cheever". In 1968 "The Swimmer" was adapted into a film of the same name, starring Burt Lancaster. The story begins with Neddy Merrill lounging at a friend's pool on a warm midsummer day. On a whim, Neddy decides to get home by swimming through all the pools in the neighborhood (which he