Hatchie, the Guardian Slave; or, The Heiress of Bellevue / A Tale of the Mississippi and the South-west

The narrative follows a young Southern heiress whose father dies, leaving her vulnerable to a grasping relative's schemes; her safety is preserved by a mulatto body-servant named Hatchie, whose strength, intelligence, and devotion protect her amid steamboat life and river dangers. Romantic attachment with a suitor complicates events as lawyers and conspirators plot against her inheritance, leading to clandestine meetings, river rescues, and legal maneuvering. The story portrays episodes of Mississippi steamboat travel and Southern society while examining loyalty, social hierarchies, and the human effects of slavery, blending melodrama, adventure, and regional description into a frontier romance set against the Southwest's waterways.