Singing Wires by L. P. Holmes

Clay Roswell thought he wanted to be a Pony Express rider. When he was bush-whacked by the Pickard brothers, his trip to the Express office got delayed and when he finally arrived, they told him he was too late, that the telegraph wires were running them out of business. Maybe he could get a job with them. Signing on with Jack Casement, after another run-in with the Pickard brothers, Clay felt the responsibility of the new job. Things go well, then there is a rat in the woodpile somewhere, a drover gets killed before they even get out of town and a wagon load of supplies is stolen. Clay has his suspicions. If it isn't the thieves, the weather in the desert, or the Indians, it is that rat that Clay is looking for. A great western story, full of the thrill of the times, stringing the telegraph wires west.