four o'clock in the morning of the Fourth of July
Then , indicating Howling Bull , `` He say , ` you make bad medicine , bring rain , I kill you . ' '' Having delivered their ultimatum , the visiting chiefs turned haughtily and rode to their own camp . `` I do n't know just what they really did say , '' said Hartigan , `` but if I 'm any judge of looks , there 'll be trouble here if those Crows do n't get out . '' * * * * * It was four o'clock in the morning of the Fourth of July when the thunderbolt struck Fort Ryan . It was not very loud ; it damaged no building ; but it struck the very souls of men . A thousand thunder claps , a year 's tornadoes in an hour , could not have been more staggering ; and yet it was only four words of one poor , wheezing Irish hostler at the Colonel 's window : `` Colonel ! Colonel !