Why did the boy stay for supper in uncle Tom's cabin?

Tom and Chloe have two young sons, who are teaching the new baby girl, Polly, to walk. George Shelby junior is at the cabin teaching Uncle Tom to write. Aunt Chloe convinces the thirteen-year old boy to stay for a dinner of hot cakes, and the cabin is alive with merriment as George praises Aunt Chloe's cooking and Uncle Tom plays with his baby.

The cabin is then filled with slaves who are convening for a religious meeting. The slaves first gossip about the rumors concerning a slave trader's visit to the plantation, and then the religious service begins. The ceremony is full of energy, laughing, crying, and singing. Tom leads the slaves in prayers full of "touching simplicity" and "child-like earnestness."