The Magician

            Saruman watched Gandalf preparing his tubes of powder and balls of materials that would give off a great noise and colorful showers of sparks when touched by fire.  All to please the mindless Pheriannath!  What a waste of time and energy!  Surely there must be a better use for this matter?  Often there were great explosions when the fire was lit, and the power of them could be felt by those on the ground far below.

            But if the matter were packed tightly into quite small tubes and then placed by rock, might it not be possible to blast the rock in two--save miners much labor?  To clear one’s way with but a minimum of effort? 

            He must think on this, and perform his own experiments.  Dwarves might scoff at such belittlement of the labor they found joyous; but Men and Elves were not created for such work.  Men in particular would see this as a wondrous magic indeed!