Then he returned to his office, to see Thomas Winter.
"Warfare—or happenstance?" asked Winter.
"I'll never know," said Franklen wearily. "Why would they—Winter! You know something!"
Winter nodded slowly. He handed Franklen a teletyped page, which Franklen read aloud:
"The State of Sonora, Mexico, today voted to secede from Mexico in favor of joining the United States by a vote of almost three to one. If this is accepted, Sonora would become the fifty-first State of the Union. There is some doubt—"
"Winter—what is this?"
"A fragment of the International News Service report," replied Winter. "And here is a text of President Halstead's reply:
"The United States of America feels gratified that she is deemed so high by the residents of Sonora, Mexico. An act of this sort, however, must be made with the full consent of the Mexican Government."
"So we've got ourselves a Border Incident?" muttered Franklen.