"There came to port last Sunday night the queerest little craft, without an inch of rigging on; I looked and looked - and laughed. It seemed so curious that she should cross the unknown water, and moor herself within my room - my daughter! O my daughter!"

This quote by George Washington Cable is a lovely and touching expression of a dad's love for his daughter. The images of a little, weird craft showing up in port with no rigging is a metaphor for the daughter's arrival in her father's life. The father is surprised and entertained by the sight of his daughter, and the reality that she has crossed the unidentified waters of life to come to him. He is overwhelmed with delight and love for his child, and reveals his sensations in this quote. The quote is a suggestion of the power of love between a moms and dad and a child, and how it can transcend any distance or challenge. It is a beautiful expression of the bond between a dad and his daughter, and the joy that features it.