X-ing a paragrab

It’s a light-hearted bagatelle, and the second to last piece of prose published in Edgar Allan Poe’s lifetime.

A businessman, the author calls him ‘Touch-and-go Bullet-head’, arrives in a city which Poe names ‘Alexander-the-Great-o-nopolis’ out west in the U.S. where he sets up a newspaper in direct competition with the older ‘Gazette’ across the street. The pair begin attacking each other, editorially speaking that is, and then disaster strikes. The newcomer runs short of the letter ‘o’ and must scramble to get his paper out.