Can overloaded '+' return an array? If so, how?

The following sample code prints:

combine: result= [1 2 3 4]
main: ar = [4]

I expect it to print:

combine: result= [1 2 3 4]
main: ar = [1 2 3 4]

The issue is that "combine", which is the function that '+' maps to,
returns an array. When, in the main program, I say:

my @ar = $ca1 + ca2

I expect the "combine" function to be called in list context. But
evidently it is called in scalar context, because my @ar variable
receives the cardinality of the "result" array, rather than a copy of
the array.

Looking at Ch 13 of the Camel book, I don't see any restriction on
return values of overloaded operators; but maybe I'm just missing it.
If there's a way to do it, but I'm doing it wrong, I'd like to know
that. Either way, please advise.

(If, instead of what I do in the example, I return a reference to the
array, and alter my main routine correspondingly, then, of course,
everything works.)

Thanks,
-P.

Example:

====================
use strict;

my $ca1 = ClassAct->new( 1, 3 );
my $ca2 = ClassAct->new( 2, 4 );

my @ar = $ca1 + $ca2;
print "main: ar = [@ar]\n";

{
package ClassAct;

use overload (
'+' => "combine",
fallback => 1,
);

sub combine {
my $obj1 = shift;
my $obj2 = shift;
my @result = sort ( @{$obj1}, @{$obj2} );
print "combine: result= [@result]\n";
return @result;
};

sub new {
my $class = shift;
my $self = [
];
while( my $value = shift ) {
push @{$self}, $value;
}
bless $self, $class;
return $self;
}
}
====================

.

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