Eugene Mumford

Eugene Mumford, usually called Muggsy, is the ringleader of three mischievous boys in Ned Lewis's Vacation Bible School class. With Hank and Junior, he steals cookies, starts chalkboard-eraser fights, and volunteers to play Shadrach mainly because no one else wants the role. Muggsy mangles the biblical names, asks about fire extinguishers, plays cards inside the furnace, and fills the performance with unexpected lines. Ned fears that none of the lesson has reached him. After the lively show delights families, however, Muggsy apologizes for causing trouble and admits that the story was good. He and his friends even ask to attend Ned's Sunday class, proving that serious truth can take root amid noisy laughter and apparent distraction.