3. If defendant entered a plea, plaintiff had three choices. First, he could demur on the ground that the plea did not state a valid defense. For example, if plaintiff had alleged a breach of contract and defendant had pleaded that he was a minor at the time the contract was entered into, the demurrer would raise the question whether defendant’s minority was a defense. Second, plaintiff could plead in a replication that defendant had not been a minor.

Or, finally, plaintiff might have admitted that defendant had been a minor and pleaded, in a confession and avoidance, that defendant had lied about his age. See p. 502, supra.