ey, and were treated to some
scenes of violence before departing, which they did with considerable
regret, having found life in that favored region comfortable, if not
inspiring. They received a warm welcome at Guernsey, whither they
retreated, and soon made a new home on that hospitable shore. A large
and convenient residence, known as Hauteville House, situated on the top
of a cliff, was rented and repaired, and served as a home for the poet
and his friends during all the remaining years of his exile, which were
destined to be many. Victor Hugo changed and beautified the house
according to his own ideas, doing much of the work with his own hands;
and the result is something eminently characteristic of the man.

On the third story is the study, a kind of belvedere, with its sides and
roof composed of glass. In this study, which overlooked the little town
of St. Sampson and its picturesque promontory, the poet did his work.
Here he finished "Les Miserables," which had been begun in the Place
Royale; here was produced the magnificent essay on Shakspeare; and here
he worked almost literally from morning until night. The house became a
refuge for exiles from many lands, and a chamber, still known as
"Garibaldi's room," was fitted up expressly for that hero, under the
expectation that he would accept the invitation of Victor Hugo to share
his home, at a time when his fortunes were at their lowest ebb. Many
literary men were here at different times, generously cared for by the
host, who called the retreat "the raft of Medusa." There were many pets
also, especially dogs, as Victor Hugo almost shared the sentiment of
Madame de Stael concerning these animals, "The more I know men, the
better I love dogs."

The wonderful success of "Les Miserables," when it was published in
1862, called the attention of the whole world to the illustrious exile
on the sea-girt isle, and after that time he was overwhelmed with
visitors from all parts of the earth, anxious to see one who had come to
be looked upon as the greatest man of his time. The success of the book
was unprecedented, the sales were enormous, and the enthusiasm of
readers and critics almost without a parallel.

Madame Hugo died in 1868, and it was always a great grief to her husband
that she could not have lived to share his return to his native land,
which took place after the downfall of Louis Napoleon in 1870. After
nineteen years of exile, he returned to his country only