“Well, Mas Tom,” he said finally, “this old raccoon, he run a long time, but they caught him at last.” When John said that, his owner, Tom, lifted the box and the smaller box. Lo and behold, a raccoon jumped out to the ground.

“Well, thank you, Uncle John!” says his owner. He couldn't've been happier. See, John was a prophet and Mas Tom was a whole bunch richer.

—“The Most Useful Slave,”
Virginia Hamilton

Based on this passage, write two to four sentences explaining why enslaved people might have seen Uncle John as a hero.