Nemo Wilkins suddenly felt a slight dizziness, as if some invisible force had brushed across his mind, or as if he had abruptly awakened from a bizarre, light sleep. In the belated alertness, he suddenly lifted his head, looking toward the always genial, seemingly harmless old gentleman with a trace of tension and vigilance.
Moris returned a friendly and polite smile to this "thread informant."
However, Nemo abruptly broke into a cold sweat; it was only now that he remembered, since entering the secret passage, the old man's gaze had almost constantly lingered on him, a force as if scouring his mind, rifling through his memories, enshrouding his very thoughts. He had been unconsciously answering every question posed by these unwelcome guests, almost even exposing the situation of other contact points within the City-State!