sub open {
    my($self, $hdrs) = @_;
    my $exe = *$self->{Exe}; # || Carp::croak "$self->open: bad exe";
    my $args = *$self->{Args};

# removed MO 20050331: destroyed the folding
#   _cleanup_hdrs($hdrs);

    my @to = $self->who_to($hdrs);
    
    $self->close;	# just in case;

    # Fork and start a mailer
    (defined($exe) && open($self,"|-"))   # <- line dying on
	|| $self->exec($exe, $args, \@to)
	|| die $!;

    # Set the headers
    $self->set_headers($hdrs);

    # return self (a FileHandle) ready to accept the body
    $self;
}