Low mass , low metallicity galaxies at low to moderate ( z \lesssim 3 ) redshifts offer the best opportunity for detailed examination of the interplay between massive stars , ionizing radiation and gas in sources similar to those that likely reionized the universe . We present new narrowband Hubble Space Telescope observations of Ly \alpha emission and the adjacent ultraviolet ( UV ) continuum in the low mass ( M _ { \star } = 2 \times 10 ^ { 8 } M _ { \odot } ) , low metallicity ( Z \sim 1 / 20 Z _ { \odot } ) and highly ionized gravitationally lensed galaxy \object [ SL2S J021737-051329 source ] SL2S J02176 - 0513 at z = 1.844 . The galaxy has strong Ly \alpha emission with photometric equivalent width W ^ { phot } _ { Ly \alpha } = 218 \pm 12 Å , at odds with the Ly \alpha escape fraction of 10 % . However , the spectroscopic Ly \alpha profile suggests the presence of broad absorption underlying the emission , and the total equivalent width is consistent with the escape fraction once this underlying absorption is included . The Ly \alpha emission is more spatially extended than the UV continuum , and the 0 \farcs 14 spatial resolution of HST coupled with the magnification of gravitational lensing enables us to examine the distribution of Ly \alpha and the UV continuum on sub-kiloparsec scales . We find that the peaks of the Ly \alpha emission and the UV continuum are offset by 650 pc , and there is no Ly \alpha emission arising from the region with the strongest UV light . Our combined spectroscopic and imaging data imply a significant range in neutral hydrogen column density across the object . These observations offer indirect support for a model in which ionizing radiation escapes from galaxies through channels with low column density of neutral gas .