My friend Derek came over and showed me what I was doing wrong. When inserting the front end of the cable into the pedal mechanism (you're laying on your side on the driver's side floor, looking up to the pedal mechanism under the dash), the little cage that traps the cable end should be staring you in the face through the large hole in the side of the pedal mechanism. If you can't see the cage, you need to manipulate the end of the pedal mechanism near where the cable attaches until the cage plops down in front of you. Then it is obvious how the end of the cable goes into the cage.