If a man buys a farm and pays a part of the price and goes away saying

that he will pay the remainder within a week, expecting then to do so
and receive a deed, the seller, if he chooses, can escape giving that
deed and parting with his farm
If a man buys a farm and pays a part of the price and goes away saying
that he will pay the remainder within a week, expecting then to do so
and receive a deed, the seller, if he chooses, can escape giving that
deed and parting with his farm. The payment of a part of the money
does not bind the bargain, nor will the courts, though knowing this,
compel the seller to give such a deed. The reader may ask, if this is
the law, cannot the farmer practise a fraud on the buyer by receiving
his money and keeping it and the farm too? He cannot do both things.
If he refuses to give the deed he must, on the other hand, return the
money; if he refuses to do this the buyer can compel him by a proper
legal proceeding to refund the amount. In this way the buyer gets his
money back again, but not the farm that he bought.