UPDATE
Well, I got the Marlin 1894C.
It's light, sweet-shooting, and just oozes old-school goodness. Recoil with .357s is mellow; with .38 spls it's a rounding error. Working the lever action is fun. To me, it seems to touch the same pleasure center as handling a revolver. My thanks to everyone who pitched in on this thread.
As earlier posts disclosed, I'm a rank novice as a rifleman (and cross-dominant, which is a pain). But even I can use the iron sights on this Marlin to score solid hits at 25 yards. The gun itself is obviously capable of far more.
I'd like to take advantage of some of that performance. My next long gun is going to be a .22 rifle -- a.k.a. marksmanship academy. I'm going to shoot the heck out of it, take some classes, build skill. My eye is on the Marlin 39A or the Ruger 77/22.
And then, maybe, a way down the road, it will be time to think about Long Gun #3: a deer rifle. Maybe a .30-30 or a .270 Win. Been reading all sorts of rifle stuff on the Internet this week, learning the calibers and lingo. (I don't really grok scopes, but that will come.)
See how they get their hooks in you.