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 Rocket (short story) Ritt. Additionally, a comic adaptation by Joe Orlando and Al Feldstein appeared in "Weird Science" (EC Publications, Nov.-Dec. 1953) under its original title "Outcast of the Stars," and later in Bradbury's collection of comic adaptations, "Tomorrow Midnight" (Ballantine, 1966). The 2006 film "The Astronaut Farmer" (with Billy Bob Thornton and Bruce Willis) is loosely based on "The Rocket" and shared a very similar theme and moral. The Rocket (short story) "The Rocket" is a Science fiction short story (initially published under the name "Outcast of the Stars") by American writer Ray Bradbury. It is also included in "The Illustrated Man",