One evening, after attending the theater, two
gentlemen were walking down the avenue when they
observed a rather well dressed and attractive
young lady walking ahead of them. One of them
turned to the other and remarked, "I'd give
$250.00 to spend the night with that woman."

Much to their surprise, the young lady overheard
the remark, turned around, and replied, "I'll
take you up on that offer."

She had a neat appearance and a pleasant voice, so
after bidding his companion good night, the man
accompanied the young lady to her apartment.

The following morning the man presented her with
$125.00 as he prepared to leave. She demanded the
rest of the money, stating "If you don't give me
the other $125.00, I'll sue you for it."

He laughed, saying, "I'd like to see you get it
on these grounds." Within a few days, he was
surprised when he received a summons ordering his
presence in court as a defendant in a lawsuit. 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."

After the usual preliminaries, the lady's lawyer
addressed the court as follows: "Your honor, my
client, this lady, is the owner of a piece of
property, a garden spot, surrounded by a profuse
growth of shrubbery, which property she agreed to
rent to the defendant for a specified length of
time for the sum of $250.00. The defendant took
possession of the property, used it extensively
for the purposes for which it was rented, but upon
evacuating the premises, he paid only $125.00,
one-half of the amount agreed upon. The rent was
not excessive, since it is restricted property,
and we ask judgment be granted against the
defendant to assure payment of the balance."

The defendant's lawyer was impressed and amused
by the way his opponent

had presented the case. His defense therefore was
somewhat different from the way he originally
planned to present it. "Your honor," he said,
"my client agrees that the lady has a fine piece
of property, which 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 own
stones, sunk a shaft, and erected a pump, all
labor performed personally by him. We claim these
improvements to the property were sufficient to
offset the unpaid amount, and that the plaintiff
was adequately compensated for the rental of said
property. We, therefore, ask that judgment not be
granted."

The young lady's lawyer answered, "Your honor,
my client agrees that the defendant did find a
well on her property. However, had the defendant
not known that 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
the property much less desirable to others. We,
therefore, ask that judgment be granted."

In the Judge's decision, he provided for two
options: "Pay the $125.00 or have the equipment
detached from its current location and provide it
to the plaintiff for damages."

The defendant immediately wrote a check.