Bel. Is he a good neighbour to you?

Arb. Far from it! and I wish he had settled a hundred miles off, rather than come here to spoil our neighbourhood.

Bel. I am sorry to hear that; but what is your objection to him?

Arb. O, there is nothing in which we agree. In the first place he is quite of the other side in politics; and that, you know, is enough to prevent all intimacy.

Bel. I am not entirely of that opinion; but what else?

Arb. He is no sportsman, and refuses to join in our association for protecting the game. Neither does he choose to be a member of any of our clubs.

Bel. Has he been asked?

Arb. I don’t know that he has directly; but he might easily propose himself, if he liked it. But he is of a close, unsociable temper, and I believe very niggardly.

Bel. How has he shown it?

Arb. His style of living is not equal to his fortune; and I have heard of several instances of his attention to petty economy.