"Dick Merriwell's Seven"

          Dick Merriwell seems to be the hero around campus at Yale University. He is a member of the baseball team and seems to have everything going for him, especially when it comes to athletics. However, the baseball coach has different plans for him this year and decides to cut Dick from the baseball team. Although startled by this decision and a little set back, Dick decides that forming a hockey team would be a great way to recover his athletic mindset. With his friends’ help, Dick recruits boys onto his hockey team and they decide to practice. The only ice that they can find is a small cove near the campus. However, upon arrival they find the Yale Varsity has the same idea of practicing as they did. Conflict arises because there are two teams and only one ice. Screaming and yelling is the initial attempt to settle the dispute, however both teams decide that playing for ice would be the true way to settle it. Sportsmanship thus prevails. Everyone expects the varsity team to dominate the game and win very easily; however Dick's new club team gives them a true contest. The two teams battle back and forth for quite some time and the match is fairly even. Although the varsity team has far better skaters, Dick places all of his players in the most ideal positions given their individual talents. The match ends with Dick’s team victorious, causing the varsity to yell and claim it was a farce that the new scrubs had beaten them. Dick’s team has gained possession of the ice and the two teams declare that each day they will do battle on the ice to see who can practice that afternoon. Although the matches are scheduled and the Dick’s team shows, the Varsity team confronts internal turmoil and does not show for the second hockey match.

        Apparently, Varsity member DuBois is using an illegal drug (most likely opium), and his teammates are upset. They decide that his presence hurts the team and they blame his drug use for preventing them from prevailing over the scrubs for ice time. "Doug Merriwell's Seven" illustrates the negative treatment of illegal drugs that appeared in many athletic dime novels. The narrative comes to a close as the two teams convene at the cove once more to determine who gets to practice that afternoon. The game is quite similar to the first game, with high intensity and great hockey. However, as the game draws to a close with Dick’s team in the lead, Duncans’ team forfeits. Members of the Varsity team quit because they cannot figure out how to keep up with Dick’s precisely devised hockey team. Dick’s team wins once again, and he continues to be the hero on campus.

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