"It is a Confederation."
"Very good; that is to say, Mexico is a republic, formed of several Confederated States."
"Yes," Loyal Heart said, with a smile.
"Better still; then Sonora and Texas, for instance, are free States, and able to separate from the Confederation, if they think proper?"
"Ah, ah," said Loyal Heart, "I did not expect that."
"I thought you did not. Well, you see, my friend, that the Mexico of today, which is neither that of Motecuhzoma nor that of the Spaniards, since the first merely comprised the plateau of Mexico, and the second, under the name of New Spain, a part of central America, is only indirectly your country, since you were born neither in Mexico nor Veracruz, but in Sonora. You said so yourself. Hence, if you, a Sonorian, assist the Texans, you only follow the general example, and are no traitor to your country. What have you to answer to that?"
"Nothing; save that your reasoning, though specious, is not without a certain amount of logic."
"Which means that you are convinced?"
"Not the least in the world. Still, I accept your proposition, and will do what you wish."
"That is a conclusion I was far from expecting, after the beginning of your sentence."