his uncle and aunt had looked worried by his bedside , his aunt saying how 'peaky ' he looked , his uncle shuffling his feet awkwardly and fiddling with his moustache , doctor molasses consulting a clipboard and 'humming and hawing ' quite unconvincingly , and matron majeiskii saying he needed a syrup-of-figs-and-castor-oil diet to 'sort out his bowels ' .