my $number = 0;
   
$SIG{ALRM} = sub {die 'timeout'};

while ( $number < 10 ) {

   eval {
   
      $number++;

      alarm(3);

      if ( $number == 3 ) { sleep 4; } # This is to simulate the delay the routines may generate...
      
      print $number;
   
      print "\n";
      
   };

   alarm(0);

   
}

if($@ eq 'timeout') {
     next;
   } else {
     die $@;
   }