my $lfh;
  open($lfh, '<', $load_fn) or
        die "Unable to open file $load_fn : $!";
$rstring  = <$lfh>;  # Char speeds
  ($c_speed[0], $c_speed[1], $c_speed[2], $c_speed[3]) = sscanf("%d %d
+ %d %d", $rstring);
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The simple answer is:

open( my $lfh, '<', $load_fn ) or
        die "Unable to open file $load_fn : $!";
my @c_speed = split ' ', <$lfh>;  # Char speeds
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