It was a brace of pheasants, and not going into court with his gun, but only his dog, it was taken for granted he had been out all night on an unlawful expedition. Some one once asked Sir Henry what was the most wonderful verdict he ever obtained. He answered: "It depends upon circumstances. Do you mean as to value?" "And amount." "Well, then," he said, "_half a farthing_." Some of the company were a little disconcerted. "I'll tell you," said the Judge. "There was in our Gracious Majesty's reign a coinage of _half a farthing_. It was soon discountenanced as useless, but while it was current as coin of the realm I had the honour of obtaining a verdict for that amount, and need not say, had it been paid in _specie_ and preserved, it would in value more than equal at the present time any verdict the jury might have given in that case."] One of the most remarkable trials in which as a Judge I have presided was what was known as the Muswell Hill tragedy. It was a brutal, commonplace affair, and with its sordid details might make a respectable society novel. I should have liked Sherlock Holmes to have been in the case, because he would have saved me a great deal of sensational development, as well as much anxiety and observation. Burglars are usually crafty and faithless to one another. They never act alone--that is, the real professionals--and invariably, while in danger of being convicted, betray one another. Such, at all events, is my experience. Each fears the treachery of his companion in guilt, and endeavours to be first in disclosing it. In the case I am now speaking of, this experience was never more verified than in the attempt on the part of these two murderers each to shift the guilt on to the other. The ruffians, Milsome and Fowler, resolved to commit a burglary in the house of an old man who led a lonely life at the suburb known as Muswell Hill, near Hornsey. The sole occupant of the cottage slept in a bedroom on the first floor. In his room was an iron safe, in which he kept a considerable sum of money, close by the side of his bed.