Well, it's time for me to eat a little crow... it was a brake line.
So, I bought a new master cylinder. Before I left, I checked to see if it was the right one. By now, I had driven the truck a little more and I noticed brake fluid on the old master cylinder. I got someone to press the brake while I watched under the hood and there was the smallest fog of a stream coming from the front line where it exited the master. It wasn't enough to empty the reservoir, but it was enough to STOP the front brakes from doing anything.
So I took the old line off, bent me up a new one, reused the old fittings, bubble flared the ends and put it on. Slowly tightening the fittings while pumping the brakes - just enough to where it quit leaking - had the added benefit of bleeding the air out of the lines at the same time. Now everything is back to normal.
I've never had a brake line rust through like that. Of course, I've always vowed to never buy a vehicle that had been up north. But this truck was too nice at too good of a price. Now I'm stuck dealing with rust. I'd like to replace both lines before the back one goes out (my new one isn't exactly routed like the factory one). Where do I get just those two lines? The rest look to be in decent shape. Is the stealership the only place?
