Loud howls followed each discharge, followed by a desperate struggle below.

Then he tumbled from their position the six dead wolves to the ground below, and then as noiselessly as possible made his way along a bough into an adjoining tree, and so into another, till he had attained some distance from the spot where the wolves were fighting and growling over the remains of their companions, far too absorbed in their work for any thought of him.
Then he dropped noiselessly to the ground and fled at the top of his speed.

It would be, he was sure, some time before the wolves had completed their feast; and even should they discover that he was missing from the tree, it would probably be some time before they could hit upon his scent, especially, as, having just feasted on blood, their sense of smell would for a time be dulled.

His previsions were accurate.

Several times he stopped and listened in dread lest he should hear the distant howl, which would tell him that the pack was again on his scent.