But woman's gamble (there's only one;

And it takes some pluck to play,

When the rules are broke ere the game's begun;

When, lose or win, you must pay!)

Is a double wager on human kind,

A limitless risk--and she goes it blind.

For she stakes, at love, on a single throw,

Pride, Honor, Scruples, and Fears,

And dreams no lover can hope to know,

And the gold of the after-years.

(And all for a man; and there's no man lives

Who is worth the odds that a woman gives.)