eval {
	local $SIG{ALRM} = sub { die "alarm\n" }; # NB: \n required
	alarm $timeout;
	$nread = sysread SOCKET, $buffer, $size;
	alarm 0;
    };
    if ($@) {
	die unless $@ eq "alarm\n";   # propagate unexpected errors
    	# timed out
    }
    else {
    	# didn't
    }