Beadle's Dime Library No. 892

This November 1895 issue of The Countryman Detective contains the serialized story "The Strangler," credited to Albert W. Aiken, author of the "Joe Phenix" novels. The narrative follows Lawrence Paddlewick, a mysterious stranger posing as a journalist seeking rest, who arrives at the Oldharbor Hotel on Long Island. After overhearing the landlord discuss an orphan named Irma Allison, Paddlewick realizes she is actually Elizabeth Allison Marmaduke, a woman he has pursued for fifteen years. The story features encounters with multiple characters: Irma, who shows dramatic talents in village productions; her elderly, wealthy protector; and Oliphant Strong, a young man acquainted with Paddlewick from his hotel clerk days who now manages a country store. Tensions escalate when the protective woman discovers Irma and Strong together, threatening to expel the girl from her house.