Thomas Ridgeway, as lessor-owner. Prior to notice by plaintiff of intention to exercise the two options, Ridgeway was killed in a boat accident on Lake Marion, near Manning. He died intestate. The defendants are his heirs-at-law. One of such heirs, Dorothy R. Hulsey, is, also, the Administratrix of his estate and is made a party defendant in that capacity as well as individually. The defendants-heirs, acting through the defendant Administratrix, have refused to comply with the options, thereby prompting the filing of this action.

JURISDICTION
There is diversity of citizenship between the plaintiff and all of the defendants. The subject-matter of this action is located in Clarendon County in the District of South Carolina. The amount in controversy, involved in the two lease options, is in excess of $10,000, exclusiveoutlined, the intestate was interested only in a lease, not a sale, and he declined the offer of Gulf to buy.
Rebuffed by Gulf, the intestate retained Joe Bates Harvin, a licensed realtor in Manning, to secure from a responsible lessee an acceptable lease of the site. Preparatory to approaching a prospective lessee, Mr. Harvin and the intestate agreed upon a fair valuation of the site as a basis for fixing a proper rental. After reviewing comparable locations in the general area, they arrived at a value of $40,000 for the one-acre site and a monthly rental providing a return of six per cent thereon, or $200 per month.
Harvin, acting on behalf of the intestate, first approached the Sinclair Refining Company, offering it a long-term lease on the filling