One evening after attending the theater,
two gentlemen were walking down the avenue when they observed
a rather well dressed and attractive lady walking just ahead of
them. One of the men turned to the other and remarked, "I'd
give $50.00 to spend the night with this woman." To their
surprise the young lady overheard the remark and turning around
she said, "I'll take you up on that." She had a pleasant
voice and a neat appearance, so, after bidding his companion good
night, the man accompanied the lady to her apartment, where they
immediately went to her apartment where they immediately went
to bed.
The following morning the man presented
her with $25.00. As he prepared to leave she demanded the rest
of the money stating "If you don't give me the money I'll
sue you for it." He laughed saying "I'd like to see
you get it on these grounds."
The next day he was surprised when
he received a summons ordering his presence in court as defendant
in a law suit. He hurried to his lawyer and explained the details
of the case. His lawyer said: "She can't possibly get a judgment
against you on such grounds, but it will be interesting to see
how her case will be presented."
In court after the usual preliminaries,
the lady's lawyer addressed the court as follows: "Your Honor,
my client, this lady here, is the owner of a piece of property,
a garden spot surrounded by a profuse growth of shrubbery, property
she agreed to rent to the defendant for a specific length of time
for the sum of $50.00. The defendant took possession of the property,
used it extensively for the purpose for which it was rented, but
upon evacuating the premises he paid only $25.00 which is only
half the amount agreed upon. The rent was not excessive, since
it is restricted property, and we ask judgment to be granted against
the defendant to assure payment of the balance."
The defendant's lawyer was impressed
and amused at the way the opponent had presented the case. His
defense, therefore, was somewhat altered from the way he originally
planned to present it. "Your Honor, my client agrees that
the young lady has a fine piece of property, that he did rent
such property for a time and a degree of pleasure was derived
from the transaction. However, my client found a well on the property,
around which he placed his stones, sunk a shaft and erected a
pump, all labor being performed personally by him. We claim these
improvements to the property adequately compensated for rental
of said property. We therefore, ask judgment be not granted."
The young lady's lawyer come back
was this: "Your Honor: My client agrees that the defendant
did find a well on her property and that he did make improvements
such as my opponent has described. However, had the defendant
not known the well existed, he would never have rented the property,
also, upon evacuating the premises, the defendant removed the
stones, pulled out the shaft and took the pump with him. In doing
so, he not only dragged the equipment through the shrubbery, but
left the hole much larger than it was prior to his occupancy,
making it easily accessible to little children. We therefore,
ask that judgment be granted."
She got judgment.