Gould

This is an appeal from a judgment in favor of the defendant in an action brought by the plaintiff as executor of the last will and testament of Mary M. Shaw, deceased, to recover the sum of $17,250.66, alleged to be due from said defendant to the estate of said deceased upon his promissory note. The defendant’s amended answer set up that there was no consideration for said note, and further set forth the circumstances under which the note had been signed as the basis for the defendant’s claim that it was executed under a mutual mistake of the parties.

The facts of the case as developed at the trial are substantially these: In the month of April, 1911, Mary M. Shaw was and for some years prior thereto had been a woman of considerable means residing in Los Angeles; the defendant had, during such time, been a real estate and general business agent in said city, and as such had been looking after the business interests of said Mary M. Shaw, who had come to have great confidence in him and to display a strong liking for him. For some time prior to the month of April, 1911, said Mary M. Shaw had signified to the defendant and said to other persons that she intended to make a gift to…