Mr. Shelby had trusted Tom in everything , and Tom had always been careful of his master 's money -- as careful as if it had been his own . Waste seemed dreadful to him , and he tried to do something to stop it now . Mr. St. Clare was not long in finding out how clever Tom was , and soon trusted him as thoroughly as Mr. Shelby had done . But in spite of all his good fortune , Tom used to long very much to go home to see his dear ones again . He had plenty of spare time , and whenever he had nothing to do he would pull his Bible out of his pocket and try to find comfort in reading it . -LSB- Illustration -RSB- But as time went on , Uncle Tom longed more and more for his home . At last one day he had a grand idea . He would write a letter . Before Uncle Tom was sold , George Shelby had been teaching him to write so he thought he could manage a letter . He begged a sheet of writing-paper from Eva , and going to his room began to make a rough copy on his slate . It was very difficult . Poor Uncle Tom found that he had quite forgotten how to make some of the letters . Of those he did remember , he was not quite sure which he ought to use . Yes , it was a very difficult thing indeed . While he was working away , breathing very hard over it , Eva came behind him , and peeped over his shoulder . ` Oh , Uncle Tom ! what funny things you are making there ! ' Eva put her little golden head close to Uncle Tom 's black one , and the two began a grave and anxious talk over the letter . They were both very earnest , and both very ignorant . But after a great deal of consulting over every word , the writing began , they really thought , to look quite like a proper letter .
` Yes , Uncle Tom , it begins to look beautiful , ' said XXXXX , gazing on it with delight .
Clare Eva Shelby Tom Waste home idea letters plenty something