"For real?"

"Yes."

"I still think you're kiddin' me, but holy cow, if you ain't, your folks gotta be nuts to give you a name like that." He started to hand the license and registration back to Cass but stopped partway, flipped them over and shone his flashlight on the back of the license. "Hey. There's an 'M' in the 'Sex' box!"

Cass shrugged: "They always do that every year. It's a drag!”"

"Them dummies in the license bureau. You better get that changed -if your name really is Casper. You ain't foolin' me you know!"

"I'm not trying to . . .'

"Them dummies figure anybody with a name like Casper gotta be a man . . . huh?”

"I guess so

"Your folks played a dirty trick on you."

"That's the royal truth!"

"Dummies! You oughta get your name changed to something like Anabelle... Maud ... Mabel-something nice."

"I was going to change it to Harry!"

"Ha-ha-ha!" The policeman rocked back and forth grinning from ear to ear again. He handed the license and registration back to Cass and motioned for her to move on: "Get outa here," he laughed, "I'm begin- ning to think you're some kind of nut-you shouldn't be out alone-at night!"

Phew, thought Cass later on as she lay in the safety of her bed, I'm really living dangerously—driving around . . . late . . . at night... in the rain... without tail-lights and all . . . !

***

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