s soon as he heard the swish-swish of the broom outside his home, he got up and walked out of the front door. He saw that the trap was still off to one side, where he had pushed it the night before.
"Hello," he shouted.
Swish-swish-swish went the broom, busily moving dust from one part of the room to another, swish-swish-swish. The man looked tremendous from so close a view, yet George knew that he was just a little, bent, old man, a small specimen of the species.
George took a deep breath. "Hello!" he bellowed with all his strength.
The janitor stopped swish-swishing and looked around the room suspiciously.
"Hello!" George shrieked. His throat felt raw.
The janitor looked down and saw the mouse. "Hello yourself," he said. He was an ignorant old man and, when he saw the mouse shouting hello at him, he assumed right away that it was a mouse shouting hello to him.
"The trap!" the mouse bellowed.