westward, this time with some of the Chinese believers they had trained. They rented houses and a building for a church in Jiuquan that thereafter would be their base. From Jiuquan they traveled extensively, selling and giving away Bibles and Christian literature and extending their range to Tibetan villages in Qinghai province, Mongol encampments, and Muslim towns in Xinjiang province. They studied the Uighur language to communicate with Muslim women, the top priority of their missionary efforts, although it appears that they made very few converts among the Muslims. The trio were independent, strong-willed, and bold women. Eva French was criticized for giving Communion to her Chinese congregation on Christmas Eve 1924, celebrating Communion being considered a male prerogative. Uncowed by the criticism, Mildred Cable celebrated Communion the following Easter. Their mode of travel in Central Asia differed from the contemporary expeditions of explorers such as Aurel Stein and Sven Hedin who often traveled in large caravans with armed guards. The three loaded their cart with religious literature and traversed the Silk Road alone or with a few Chinese colleagues. The interpersonal relations among the "trio" were that "Mildred was the 'father figure,' Francesca the mother, and Eva the strong-willed, puckish and wonderful child." Mildred was called "Napoleon" by some of her co-workers. To return to England on home leave in 1926, they traveled via Russian Siberia. After their return in 1928, they took a year-long journey into Xinjiang (then known as Chinese Turkestan), on the way being detained by a Dongan leader, Ma Zhongying, to tend his wounds. In 1932, they made their first journey into the Gobi, where Cable was badly injured by a kick from a donkey. The trio left China for the last time in 1936 and were unable to return because, in August 1938, all foreigners were ordered to leave Gansu and Xinjiang by the local warlord. Cable and the French sisters retired to Dorset. During her retirement, Cable was much in demand as a speaker, making several international tours. She was awarded the Royal Society for Asian Affairs Lawrence of Arabia Memorial Medal in 1942. She and French continued writing. Mildred Cable served as a vice president for the British and Foreign Bible Society until her death in London in 1952. Bibliography Works The majority of these titles were written in collaboration with Francesca French Mother India's Daughters: An Impression, London: Page & Thomas,