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 Stray Dog (short story) moved, Pat started running after the car, despite the pain in his body. The story ends when the barely alive dog, lied on the side of the road, while three crows were waiting to eat his brown eyes. Jalal Al-e-Ahmad and Homa Katouzian have called "The Stray Dog" one of the best stories by Sadegh Hedayat. The Stray Dog (short story) "The Stray Dog" (, "Sag-e Velgard") is a short story by Iranian writer Sadegh Hedayat, first published in 1942 along with seven other short stories in the book of the same name. Pat is a Scottish breed dog with