On Thursday, November 26, midwife Martha Ballard arrives at the Clarks’ cabin after a hard ride through the cold because Betsy Clark’s labor is moving quickly. Betsy is already near delivery, surrounded by the women of her family, while her husband Charles waits uselessly in the forge. Martha directs the room with practiced calm, encourages Betsy through the final pushes, and delivers a healthy baby girl.

When Martha announces that the child is another daughter, Betsy reacts with disappointment because she knows Charles wanted a boy. Martha finishes the work of birth carefully: she cuts and ties the cord, checks the baby for problems, watches Betsy for dangerous bleeding, delivers the afterbirth, and helps Betsy begin nursing. Betsy names the baby Mary, but her relief is mixed with anxiety about her husband’s response.

After making sure mother and child are safe, Martha goes out to the forge to tell Charles the news. Charles is deeply relieved that Betsy has survived, but he cannot hide his collapse of hope when he learns the baby is a girl. He insists that he loves his daughters but says he needs a son to help with the forge, and he quickly speaks of trying again. Because Martha recognizes how his demands endanger Betsy, she firmly warns Charles to give Betsy’s body months to heal and to treat her gently and patiently.

Martha returns to the cabin and lies down to rest, listening for signs of anger from Charles. Instead, she hears only soft words between husband and wife, and the household settles after the birth. Soon, however, Charles wakes Martha and leads her outside, where James Wall has arrived unexpectedly on horseback. Martha is startled because James was supposed to be traveling on a raft to Long Reach with her son Jonathan, and the chapter ends as James tells her there has been an accident and that she is needed in town at once.