The Soul of the Gambler

Where now the huts are empty,
Where never a camp-fire glows,
In an abandoned cañon
A gambler's ghost arose.

He muttered there, "The moon's a sack
Of dust." His voice rose thin:
"I wish I knew the miner man;
I'd play, and play to win.

"In every game in Cripple Creek
Of old, when stakes were high,
I held my own. Now I would play
For that sack in the sky.

"The sport would not be ended there.
'Twould rather be begun.
I'd bet my moon against His stars
And gamble for the Sun."