A middle-aged American couple, Mr. and Mrs. Gifford, read the newspaper with increasing trepidation as they track Germany’s aggressive moves against England in the late 1930s. Although many of their neighbors are in agreement with their politics, they worry that their American-German neighbors, the Schwartzes, are not. The Giffords’ feud with the Schwartzes began when Mr. Schwartz asked if he could purchase a strip of land from them to expand his vegetable garden, to which Mr. Gifford vehemently refused. After that, the tone between the neighbors was icy, except for once when Mr. Gifford told off the Schwartz boys for throwing softballs into their flowers. Both families are stubbornly set in their ways and refuse to concede or act neighborly to one another, and even though it bothers Mrs. Gifford, they let the hedge between their properties grow higher. Luckily, it seems their other neighbors share their negative opinion of the Schwartzes too.  When Germany invades Poland, the Giffords’ suspicion of the Schwartzes’ comings and goings suddenly escalates. They call them Nazis and obsessively watch the people who enter and exit the house, even going as far as to write down the license plates of the cars. One day, Mr. Gifford decides to investigate these clandestine meetings at the Schwartzes’, and he sneaks over onto their property to spy on them through the window. He merely sees a group of people playing cards, drinking beer, and talking about their garden at the table. After a few minutes, he gives up and goes to write down the plate numbers on the cars, then returns to his own home. The Giffords decide to continue their observation and express their gratitude that they never sold the land to their neighbors.