Question 992961
The second of two numbers is two less than three times the first. Find these numbers if their sum is 26. I have tried the equations 3x+-2=26 and x-6x=26, but they do not seem to work and I end up with fractions and am not able to find the second number.

let x=1st of two numbers
3x-2= second of two numbers 
x+3x-2=26
4x=24
x=6
3x-2=16
1st of two numbers=24
2nd of two numbers=16