Henry Ernest Dudeney/Modern Puzzles/24 - Simple Arithmetic

by : $24$

 * "Simple" Arithmetic
 * Two gentlemen with an eccentric approach to philosophy were pinned down by your investigative reporter. 


 * They wished to riddle my mathematical understanding.


 * "Our two ages combined," said the first, "is $44$."


 * "Don't be silly," said the other, "it's $1280$."


 * They looked at me and said, "You see, we didn't tell you how we were combining them."


 * It was clear to me that the first number was their difference and the second was their product.


 * Now, how old were these two gentlemen?

Note that the above is a contemporary paraphrase of the original statement of this problem, which used language and concepts which are likely to cause offence in today's society.