#!/usr/bin/perl
use warnings;
use strict;
my ($line,$i,$n,$emailtext);

while( $line=<DATA> )
{
        if( $line =~ m/^\*\*$/) {

                $emailtext .= <DATA> if(*DATA);
                next if ( $line =~ m/^\*\*$/ );
        }
}
print "$emailtext\n";   # you could start your print MAIL 
                        # stuff here.
__DATA__

**
She turned me into a newt!
**

One day, a shell shall emerge from the masses, written 
in Perl, and it will be Good.

**
A newt?!
**

The people will rejoice, and it shall be 
dubbed 'SuperShell'.

**
I got better.
**