on a contract
which the law implies in such a case for the worth of his service
during the period of his employment. On the other hand, the employer
can set off against his claim any injury that he may have sustained.
Suppose he could show that the service was of no worth to him; that he
was injured rather than benefited by what he did; then the employe
could get nothing. The courts have been inclined of late years to
uphold an employe in recovering whatever his service was worth--not,
however, as done by virtue of an express or actual contract with the
employer. He cannot sue on that; in other words, he cannot take
advantage of his own wrong to recover anything from his employer, but
he may recover on the contract which the law implies, as we have
explained, as much as his service was worth to his employer, and no
more.

Another element in a contract is the meeting of minds of both parties.
_Both must understand the matter in the same sense._ For example, a
person offered to sell another "good barley" for a stated price, and
the other offered to buy "fine barley" at the price mentioned. There
was no contract between these persons, because it was shown that "good
barley" and "fine barley" were different things in the trade. This,
therefore, is one of the essential elements of a contract--the meeting
of the minds of the contracting parties. Whether they have assented or
not is a question of fact, to be found out like any other question of
fact.

Sometimes offers are made on time, and when they are several
interesting questions may arise. Suppose A and B are negotiating for
the sale and purchase of a piece of land. A says to B: "I will give
you a week to think the matter over." Soon after parting A meets C, to
whom he mentions his offer to B. C says: "I will give you a great deal
more for the land and pay you now." "Very well," says A; "the land is
yours." And he at once writes a letter to B saying that he has
withdrawn his offer, as another person has offered him more for the
land and that he has sold it to him. Now B might be very much
surprised by this letter. Very likely he would think A was a hard man
and perhaps a dishonest one. Perhaps he would go to a lawyer and ask
him if he could compel A to sell the land to him if he accepted his
offer within the time mentioned and paid to him the money. The lawyer
would tell him--if he understood his business--that A had a perfect
right to withdraw his offer, even though it