throw IOException(npe)
      }
    }
  }

  /**
   * Does all the work to build an HTTPS connection over a proxy tunnel. The catch here is that a
   * proxy server can issue an auth challenge and then close the connection.
   *
   * @return the next plan to attempt, or null if no further attempt should be made either because
   *     we've successfully connected or because no further attempts should be made.