Hopefully better late than never :)

To get the file to open in numerical order, the Finder selection needs to be alphabetical. Unfortunately, in Mac OS 10.3 the order depends on the order the files were selected, usually. That's just too odd. However, if you make the selection, view the window in Column view (Cmd-3) and THEN open them, they will open in numerical order now.

I know, sounds weird, but it works.

Darryl Zurn