Can Such Things Be?
A chess automaton kills its inventor in this author's short story "Moxon's Master," which appears in his collection Can Such Things Be? This author of Fantastic Fables wrote about a deaf child who takes dying soldiers from the title battle to his house in his short story "Chickamauga." Nicknamed "bitter," this author disappeared after traveling to Mexico and possibly joining up with Pancho Villa. Another of his works defines "learning" as "The kind of ignorance distinguishing the studious," while one of his stories centers on Peyton Farquhar, who fantasizes about escaping his hanging. FTP, name this cynical American author of "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" and The Devil's Dictionary.
A chess automaton kills its inventor in this author's short story "Moxon's Master," which appears in his collection
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce