Help -- telnet port 25 connects but doesn't transfer data

Hello list:

I have an installation of qmail-scanner/spamassassin/clamav/mysql on
Gentoo.  Testing the system with the provided script
"qmail-scanner-queue.pl" works fine.  The trouble is that as I attempt to
"telnet localhost 25", I get a connection but the happiness stops here. 
Here is a bit of info:

telnet localhost 25
Trying 127.0.0.1...
Connected to localhost.
Escape character is '^]'.
helo rvazquez
helo hey
Is this thing working?
Come on, work already...
Terminated

I used 'strace -p $TELNETPID' and here is the output:

strace -p 10495
Process 10495 attached - interrupt to quit
select(4, [0 3], [], [3], NULL)         = 1 (in [0])
read(0, "helo rvazquez\n", 8191)        = 14
select(4, [0 3], [3], [3], {0, 0})      = 1 (out [3], left {0, 0})
send(3, "helo rvazquez\r\n", 15, 0)     = 15
select(4, [0 3], [], [3], {0, 0})       = 0 (Timeout)
select(4, [0 3], [], [3], NULL)         = 1 (in [0])
read(0, "helo hey\n", 8178)             = 9
select(4, [0 3], [3], [3], {0, 0})      = 1 (out [3], left {0, 0})
send(3, "helo hey\r\n", 10, 0)          = 10
select(4, [0 3], [], [3], {0, 0})       = 0 (Timeout)
select(4, [0 3], [], [3], NULL)         = 1 (in [0])
read(0, "Is this thing working?\n", 8169) = 23
select(4, [0 3], [3], [3], {0, 0})      = 1 (out [3], left {0, 0})
send(3, "Is this thing working?\r\n", 24, 0) = 24
select(4, [0 3], [], [3], {0, 0})       = 0 (Timeout)
select(4, [0 3], [], [3], NULL)         = 1 (in [0])
read(0, "Come on, work already...\n", 8146) = 25
select(4, [0 3], [3], [3], {0, 0})      = 1 (out [3], left {0, 0})
send(3, "Come on, work already...\r\n", 26, 0) = 26
select(4, [0 3], [], [3], {0, 0})       = 0 (Timeout)
select(4, [0 3], [], [3], NULL <unfinished ...>
Process 10495 detached

Is it that qmail-scanner-queue.pl never connects to 'qmail-queue'?  Any
help would be greatly appreciated.

/////////////////////////////////////
Ronald Vincent Vazquez
Vice President of Technology Group
Senior Unix Systems Administrator
Senior Network Manager
Christ Tabernacle Church Ministries
http://www.ctcministries.org
(301) 540-9394 Home
(240) 401-9192 Cell





-------------------------------------------------------
This SF.Net email is sponsored by xPML, a groundbreaking scripting language
that extends applications into web and mobile media. Attend the live webcast
and join the prime developer group breaking into this new coding territory!
http://sel.as-us.falkag.net/sel?cmd=lnk&kid=110944&bid=241720&dat=121642